Eye of Newt sequel
by gorblimey2
Summary: This takes up where the story, YOUR WIFE, left off. House is a Dad and wrestling with his emotions over what happened in Your Wife. He hooks ups with a scam-artist before Huddy straightens him out.


Eye of Newt

(Sequel to Your Wife)

Lisa looked at Wilson as they left House's apartment. She still had tears in her eyes. Wilson reached over and gave her a little hug. "This sucks...I can't believe that Jordan is dead. House looks numb, like he's running on autopilot."

"Well, what do you expect? Not everyday that your girlfriend dies in a terrorist attack leaving you with a one year old. I don't know how he's going to do it. It was going to be hard for him to be a father with Jordan helping him, but alone? I have real doubts."

"But he's so good with Newt. That baby adores him."

"Well, that baby may adore him but that doesn't mean that House is going to be able to pull this off. Raising a baby by yourself is hard, even harder if you have a bad leg and are hooked on Vicodin. And even harder if you are a doctor that gets called away at all times of night. The odds aren't good."

"Well, what are his options? Jordan was an orphan, did she have any other family?"

"She did have an aunt, but last time I heard, her aunt was very ill." Wilson said grimly.

"What about House's parents?" Cuddy asked.

"They don't even know that they're grandparents yet. House had planned to tell them at the same time he told them about the wedding."

"He needs our help." she shook her head in disbelief.

"Well, you're good at rescuing people, you've been rescuing House for the last ten years."

House had just gotten back from Shannon, Ireland where the terrorists had blown up the plane carrying his girlfriend, Jordan Morgan, and 198 other passengers in it. It had been miracle that she had managed to sneak their son, Stephen Isaac, off the plane before it exploded. House pulled out the engagement ring he had bought for Jordan. It all seemed surreal. He had planned to ask her to marry him this weekend. Now, he was going to be making plans for her memorial.

The FAA was doubtful that they would find any body parts or DNA in the wreckage. The bomb had been especially destructive and had just about vaporized everything within 300 feet of it. Jordan's seat was within less than 20 feet of the bomb. The FAA didn't tell House this, it seemed especially gruesome to share with a family member.

House put Newt to bed in the middle of his queensized bed. He didn't have any baby equipment, Jordan was going to bring her travel crib and stroller along with all the other baby stuff that comes with a traveling one year old. He looked at the pile of mail sitting on the desk by the door and decided he didn't have the energy to go through it. He poured a single malt whiskey and went to chug it but decided against it. He needed to have a clear head just in case Newt needed him. How did he ever end up being a single parent? This didn't make sense. He had never intended to be a father at all.

The message machine was full. He listened to some of the messages. Most of them were from "the nerds," Jordan's friends and colleagues from the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. Jordan was brilliant and had worked with some of the top minds in physics. She was finishing up a stint as Stephen Hawking's assistant in Cambridge when she got on that plane to come see him. Newt was named after Stephen Hawkings and Isaac Newton. Stephen Isaac Morgan became "Newt" when Stephen Hawkings decided that having two heavyweight physicists for namesakes was too much. One of the phone calls was from Stephen. He was obviously upset and his physical caretaker, Geoff, had to finish the call for him. He wanted to be kept apprized of the memorial service.

House went into his bedroom and stared at the bundle in the middle of his bed. He felt a rush of feelings that he had never expected. Whatever it took, he was going to do whatever was necessary to keep his son safe and healthy. He got undressed, sat down on the edge of the bed, and then placed his hand on his son's cheek. He crawled into bed and turned out the light.

House had a hard time getting to sleep. He hadn't slept well since the bomb. He kept playing over and over the last few moments in the terminal. He had been talking to the woman who had managed to sneak Newt to safety when he felt the percussion of the bomb on his back, throwing him to the floor with Newt. He could still hear the sound of the window shattering, the screams...the screams. He wanted to take more vicodin or a sleeping pill, but his son deserved to have his only parent sober enough to change his diaper, fix his bottle, or just hold him. He was living in hell.

Newt woke up at 3:30 a.m. and was unconsolable. He kept asking for mommy...one of about a dozen words in his vocabulary. "Hey dude, I want her too, I want her too." He rocked Newt back and forth.

The next day Lisa showed up at 9:30 a.m. in her jeans and short sleeved sweater. She took one look at House and knew that the night had not gone well. "You look bad, really bad. Didn't get much sleep, huh?"

"He seems to want the one person in the world he and I can't have. Hard to argue with that."

"Come on, let's go shopping. It always helps me." she smiled at him.

"Yeah, well let me remind you that those are testicles between my legs and shopping doesn't rank high up there."

"Well, first we need a stroller. You're going to get tired carrying a one year old on your back."

They went to Target and started to load up several carts. They grabbed toys, clothes, a baby bath, a crib and a stroller. They picked up more food and a better car seat. After loading up Cuddy's SUV, she could see that House was hanging on by a thread.

"I want you two to come over and stay with me. Look House, you need a hand with Newt. You are both going through a lot right now and you need help. I can help. I have two extra bedrooms, come and stay for a few weeks until you can figure all of this out."

"Lisa, you're Dean of Medicine, you already have a lot on your plate, besides, I don't think I make good company right now." he sounded sad.

"Did you ever make good company? That's not the point. I can watch Newt while you work out the details of the memorial. I can help with laundry. I can feed you two...maybe from the local deli, but still, I could be responsible for that. You can't afford to say no. You have to think about what is best for Newt and you know that this is best." She said sternly.

House knew she made sense and it was a generous offer. Still he ached inside so much that the idea of being around another person and having to interact was overwhelming. He looked at her; she looked so earnest. He knew she would be disappointed if he said no and right now he didn't want to let anyone down. They went home and got his things. He moved into the guest room on the first floor. They assembled the crib and realized they needed a high chair. Lisa helped House unpack his bags and then washed the new clothes for Newt. House and Newt both went down for a nap.

Lisa had never had a child, so having a one year old around was new to her. Her house was immaculate and she knew that all the knick knacks were going to have to be packed away. She started to baby-proof the house while they were asleep and realized that her whole life was not baby friendly. This was not a pleasant revelation, especially since she had been going through Invitro Fertilization treatments for the last year. She tried to comfort herself, "Hell, if Brittney Spears can have kids, I can handle it."

She made several bottles up and put them in the refrigerator. Lisa ordered Chinese to be delivered. She remembered that House liked Kung Pow chicken and Garlic Shrimp, so she ordered it for him.

Newt woke House who was feeling somewhat better after getting some sleep. He picked up his crying son and started to rock him up and down. Then he changed his diaper. Cuddy was watching him do this from the doorway. She was touched. There was House, the irascible jerk, being so tender and sweet with Newt. He kept making funny faces to entertain Newt. He looked up and saw Cuddy.

"This guy is going to start wailing in a few minutes for food. And since I'm not anatomically designed as a delivery system, we better make him a bottle." House smiled and raised his eyebrows.

"I've already made a bottle for him. I'll go warm it."

"Don't bother, this buckaroo takes his bottle cold, like his beer. Don't cha big boy?" He picked up Newt who looked over to Cuddy with curiosity. Newt had a habit of studying people.

"Those blue eyes are gorgeous. He's going to be a real ladykiller when he gets older. And when he looks at you it's as if he's studying everything about you. He is so much like you, my God I just realized, he IS the spawn of the devil!." She chucked and reached out. Newt came into her arms.

She carried him out to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle out of the refrigerator. "Are you sure it is ok to give it to him cold?" She asked.

"We westerners only heat it because we think it should be body temperature, but he takes it cold. Jordan had a baby book from England by a doctor named, Hugh Jolly. He said that if a baby takes it cold, let them. Sure saves time in the middle of the night. It makes sense."

Newt drank the bottle with no problems. Cuddy loved holding him in her arms and letting him look up at her while he drank. He was a sweet baby. After he drank the bottle, she asked House, "What next?"

"Oh, some of that lovely beef stew in a jar. Or carrots or peas ...he even eats real people food if it isn't in large chunks. And he loves his bananas, apples and pears."

Cuddy got down a jar of baby stew and a jar of peas. She warmed them in a microwave. Since she didn't have a high chair, she bounced him on her knee and fed him. "Oh Newt, this doesn't look all that palatable. After we go through these jars, I'm going to start making you real food." Newt didn't seem to care, he ate it up.

After Newt was done eating he wiggled to get down. Cuddy thought to herself, "Well here we go...we'll see how well I did baby-proofing things."

"You better watch it. He gets into everything and I mean everything. He is incredibly curious. Jordan was going nuts trying to keep him entertained."

Newt took his clue and within a few minutes he had managed to grab the tablecloth and yank it off the table along with a bowl of fruit. Cuddy and House scrambled to catch the bowl but as House said..."It was fruitless."

"I think we need to start taking some of those toys out of their boxes to keep him occupied." House suggested.

"Amen." Cuddy said, "I think on Monday we should take him into the hospital daycare and get him signed up. He'll have a lot more stimulation if he is around other kids. Plus you're going to need a place to leave him when you are working."

"Work, ah, I haven't even thought of work."

"House, you're entitled to family leave so you don't have to think about going back right away." Cuddy told him.

"Well, I don't think sitting at home is the best use of my immense talent. I think sitting around will do more damage than help. I guess you're right, we need to get him enrolled or he'll tear your place apart."

House had decided that he would enroll Newt on Monday and start back to work on Tuesday. That would give him a chance to finalize Jordan's memorial and to go over to the new house he was having built. It was suppose to be where Jordan, Newt and House would have started their new life together. He wondered now if it would be too big for the two of them.

House got up at 6:30 a.m. with a chirpy, babbling Newt. Since House was not a morning person, this early wake-up was getting old. He dragged himself out to the kitchen in his boxers and t-shirt to get some coffee that he could smell all the way into the bedroom. Lisa was already dressed and ready to go when House came into the kitchen. Lisa couldn't help but think he looked sexy with his bed head, shorts and those blue eyes. She chastised herself, "Lisa, he grieving over the mother of his son...whoaa girl."

"Some days it's not worth chewing through the straps." He said, grabbing a mug and pouring the coffee.

"Where's Newt?" Lisa asked as she bit into a doughnut.

"In his crib having a conversation with himself. I'm just having a quick cup and then I'm going back in to break up the conversation. Watch that pastry, instead of buns of steel, you're going to have buns of cinnamon." He smiled and went back to his room.

Lisa smirked at him, threw the doughnut away and grabbed her purse. She was off for a busy day. There was a review coming up by the Attorney General's office of one of the obstetricians. He had been accused by a woman of inappropriately touching her during an exam. Of course, it's hard to touch anyone appropriately when you're doing a gynecological and breast exam. It was going to be a rough day.

House grabbed the babbling brook known as Newt and got him ready. A few months ago, House had traded in his motorcycle for a Volvo. It had pained him to give up his Honda Motorcycle but he wanted to have transportation when Jordan and Newt arrived. He loaded the boy and smiled at him, 'Hey dude, it's a day for firm decisions, **or is it? **Well, I'm taking you in to daycare so you can hit up on all the toddler chicks. Remember, most of them are doctor's kids, so you have to brush up on your anatomy." Newt looked at him like he was trying to understand him. "Newt, don't bother...you're gibberish is no better than mine."

House got to the daycare and thought he had entered the fourth gate of hell. Children dodged in and around him. His face must have shown how uneasy he was, the teacher came up and asked him, "Don't you like children?"

"Oh, I like children, I just don't think I could eat a whole one." House said.

"Excuse me?" She was taken back.

"This is my son, Stephen Isaac Morgan and I need to enroll him."

"Are you faculty or hospital staff?"

"Dr. Gregory House."

"Oh, Dr. House, I heard what happened. I am so sorry. That was so tragic, we'll take good care of your son. He's adorable. His eyes are so gorgeous. Oh, I see he has your eyes." Then she blushed realizing she had just indirectly told House how attractive his eyes were.

Newt was enrolled. House provided the birth certificate, his passport and his mother's death certificate, provided by the United States Government through the Irish Embassy. He didn't want to look at it. It made it all too real that she was gone.

Newt was already in his element watching everything around him and taking things apart. "We have a webcam set up in each room, so you can log onto this website and see your son. We also have a lunch room where you can eat lunch with your son if you want to check up on him. He has to be picked up by 6:30 p.m. We do have a second shift, so if you do need to stay an extra shift, just let them know by 5:00 p.m. It's an extra $50 for each shift. We need a list of those people who can pick Stephen up if you can't."

House filled out the forms, put Lisa Cuddy and James Wilson down as emergency contacts, and gave her a check for the first month. He left Newt, who started to whimper as he walked out. But he was assured that he would settle down soon after he left. She suggested that if he was worried he could check the webcam.

He went to the new house, it was almost done. He walked through it with the contractor but it was overwhelming. This was going to be a place for him and Jordan. He wasn't sure what to do with it. He was going to need a bigger place for him and Newt, but this big? Still it was beautiful and it would be a great place for Newt to grow up in. It was near good schools and it had a great back yard. The only problem was the lake at the bottom of the yard. He worried about Newt drowning. So he had already built a lovely wrought iron fence around the entire back yard.

Next stop was the Church of Religious Science. House thought it was a joke when he found out that Jordan actually was a card carrying member. It wasn't Scientology, thank God, but a religion that celebrated all religions. Jordan used to tell him, "We think that any path that leads you to God is the right path. We celebrate God in the purest form. I like to think of it as celebrating, 'The Force' I believe in God and this is how I celebrate it."

The Church was plain but cheerful. Jordan would go to church on occasion in Princeton and this was her church. The pastor was a nice looking woman who spoke very fondly of Jordan and expressed her concern for Newt and House. She was truly convinced that House and Newt would meet Jordan at the next level of consciousness. House told her that if he had his way he'd be so drunk when he died he wouldn't regain his next level of consciousness. She laughed at the joke. The arrangements were made for a memorial and a wake.

House was emotionally spent. He wouldn't have held a memorial, he didn't believe in God or an afterlife, but she did. He didn't want Newt coming back as a teenager and asking him why he didn't honor his mother's memory and her beliefs, so he was going through with it.

There was an announcement placed in the Princeton and Trenton newspapers, the faculty newsletter and the campus website. Within hours he was approached by five different television channels for rights to film the service. Apparently, he hadn't realized how big this story would be. Stephen Hawkings and several other prominent physicists and Nobel Prize winners were attending. The Vice President and several congressmen were also coming...it ended up that the church was going to be too small and so they had to switch it to the campus chapel at Princeton.

Lisa was worried about House. He went to work the next day but his head wasn't in the game. He was relying heavily on his Team. Lisa didn't mind this, so far nothing important had been compromised and his Team had really stepped up. They were doing a great job and had even covered House's clinic duty. Still, she hated seeing the Great Gregory House fumbling his way through a day at work.

Lisa was starting to enjoy having the company at the house. It seemed more like a home to have people there when you got home. Taking care of Newt was exhausting and House was doing the lion's share of the work! Chasing a toddler after a long day at the hospital was difficult. Even though he was beat, House seemed to really enjoy his son and played with him until Newt was tired and was ready for bed. House would then collapse in front of the television until Lisa would wake him and send him off to bed. She had to chuckle. The great Greg House slayed by a one year old.

On Wednesday Lisa came home and found House dialing the kitchen phone. Newt was having a snack in the high chair they had bought. "Hello, it's Greg. I'm fine, just a little tired that's all...I have something to tell both of you, is Mom there?...Hello Mom, yeah miss you too. Just a little tired. ..Well, I met someone...no Mom, hold on...I wish it was, but ...well, her name was Jordan Morgan. We'd known each other for about two years. Yeah, close...very close. I was going to ask her to marry me. She died in the terrorist attack on the American Airlines plane...yeah the one in Ireland...I appreciate it...but there's more...we had a son together...I know... I should have told you but I was waiting until we got engaged...she was coming here and I was going to ask her...he's one year old...Stephen Isaac...quite a handful. We're going to have the memorial next on Friday. ...yeah, I would like you to meet him. Please, yes I would like for you to come. I know, it doesn't sound like me...well, I think being a father has a lot to do with it. Sure, send me an email with the flight plans and I will make the hotel arrangements. Ok, I'll email some photos. I love you too. Bye."

Lisa had been on one side of the conversation but she could tell that his parents had been very kind despite receiving rather important news. He was lucky to have them.

"Are you ok?"

"I should have told them before. I don't know why...they are good parents. I was just an impossible child. My Dad just didn't understand the child that always bent the rules. I hope I understand. They're going to come out for the memorial and to meet Newt. God, I don't know if I should continue to call him Newt..what do you think?"

"It's kind of cute and when you find out he is named after two physicists, including his Godfather, Stephen Hawkings, well it makes it even cuter." Lisa said. "Look, I arranged for my maid to come over and watch Newt tonight. I'm taking you out for a drink and a meal."

He looked at her sideways, "Are you trying to seduce me? I know, you see what my seed produces and you want some of that."

"Right, like you're going to have any energy left after a meal and drink to spill your seed. Give me a break, you're running on two cylinders. I just want you to have a chance to relax. Newt will be fine with Maria. She has five children of her own."

"You have a date."

Lisa drove them to Lahiere's Restaurant on Witherspoon, one of her favorites. On the way over she had been telling House all about the afternoon she had with a very eccentric donor who was willing to donate $2.0 million dollars if they would use $15,000 of it to put up a statue of Darth Vader. The Board of Directors had been wrestling with the decision and, if they agreed to it, where would Darth go? The donor had suggested the clinic area, but of course the Board didn't want the first impression of everyone who comes to the hospital to be of Darth Vader. Lisa told the donor it would be really nice if they put it nearer to the children's ward. But he told her that Lord Vader was a serious character, with dark undertones, mythical designs...he needed to be appreciated by the masses.

House was cracking up. It was the first time in two weeks that he had been able to laugh. House told her about his Star Trek cruise with Wilson and how they had been politely informed that they were no longer welcomed aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise again. They both laughed so hard that she was having trouble driving.

When they got to the restaurant, House ordered a Grey Goose on the rocks. Lisa had a Mojito, easy on the rum.

"Ok, what are you going to have?" She asked him. She wondered why it was that everyone always had to ask each other what they were going to have? Was it something primal?

"I'm going to get the honey-glazed roasted duck with hoisin jus. I haven't had duck in awhile. Not since Christmas Eve in England." He said.

Lisa took in a breath, oh no, he was thinking of England and Jordan. She expected a darkness to come over his face but it didn't. He still looked relaxed. "I'm going to get the pan-roasted poussin with tomato ragout, it's my favorite. Can I have a taste of yours, I've never had duck?"

"Hell no." He said seriously and then smiled, "Only if you share yours."

"Settled."

House thought that Lisa looked lovely tonight. But then, Lisa was always lovely. She had a great eye for fashion and what would look good on her petite frame. She didn't have the nice round breasts or round hips of Jordan, but she still had a great body. He thought back over the last twenty years and how many times they had almost hooked up. In fact, there was the one time he was at a party, got drunk, managed to corner her in a back bedroom and she was just about ready to let him screw her when he threw up. It was a real buzz kill. She didn't talk to him for half a year. He didn't blame her.

After the drinks came and the waiter took the order, House sighed, "Lisa, I should probably take this opportunity to tell you how much your help..."

"Please Greg, I can't take this from you. You don't have to say anything. I know you're grateful, just leave it at that." She knew it had taken a lot out of House to muster up the words to thank her and she didn't want him to be taxed anymore than he already was.

He nodded quickly at her in thanks and then he told her about the myspce profile he had made up for Wilson about two years ago. It said he was gay and looking for a relationship. Lisa howled. He also had a hotmail address for messages that were forwarded to Wilson's hospital email. "I didn't hear that." Lisa admonished, but secretly she was laughing inside. Apparently for the last two years Wilson was trying to figure our why so many gay guys wanted to go out with him.

"I'm going to change the profile soon."

"To what?"

"I thought I would announce that he has found Jesus and has gone straight and he urges all gays to follow his path. What do you think?"

"Oh God, you have to show me this profile."

There were no gaps in the conversation. Lisa and House shared so much history that they had plenty to discuss or reminisce about. The food arrived and they shared the dinners as planned. House liked Lisa's more than Lisa liked the duck. "It's too greasy for me." She said.

"I can't get enough artery blocking fats." He said as he took another large bite of the duck.

The night went by quickly and when House got back to Lisa's he was relaxed and ready to sleep. They said their goodnights and were off to their rooms. Lisa was smiling to herself. It was the first time in a long time that they had just talked, not sparred, not played games or power trips, just talked. It felt good. Lisa's heart ached for House and Newt, what a horrible thing to go through.

The next morning there was a knock on the door. Lisa answered it and a man was standing on the doorstep.

"Hello, is Dr. House here? I was told I could find him here. I'm Edward, a friend of Jordan's. I'd like to talk to Dr. House."

Lisa thought the man looked as bad as House. He obviously was upset and had bags under his eyes. "Sure, I'll get him, please come in. Have a seat."

The man came in and had a seat in her living room. Lisa went into the kitchen where House was feeding Newt. "Greg, there's a friend of Jordan's here, a guy named Edward."

"Oh." House said in acknowledgment. "He's from the Institute. He and Jordan were roommates for a long time. That guy is probably going to win the Nobel prize this year." House was washing his hands of the green peas stains. "Ok if he comes in here?"

"Sure."

House invited Edward into the kitchen. He was delighted to meet Newt for the first time. "Boy, he really looks like you doesn't he?"

"That's what they say. What can I do for you?" House was gentle with Edward. He knew that Edward had been in love with Jordan and he knew that he was suffering too.

"I was wondering what you were going to do for music at the memorial?"

"I was just going to have the pastor pick something and get an organist. I don't know, why?"

"When Jordan lived with me we used to get into these strange conversations...you know like, if you had a million dollars what would you do? If you could have lunch with anyone dead or alive who would it be? Etc. Etc. Well, one day we both picked out the music for our funeral. I'd like to make the arrangements for the music. I'm too shy to get up and say anything at the testimony for her, but this would be my way of honoring her."

"I think she would like that. It would take a burden off of my shoulders. There is one thing. I have one song that has to be played, it was her favorite. She said it reminded her of me and Newt."

"I already know the song and I promise, it will be played."

They talked for a few more minutes, he played a little with Newt and then he was off. "Boy he's in bad shape isn't he?" Lisa commented.

"Yeah, I have a feeling the whole gaggle of nerds is taking this hard. Danny was the only female in their group and they treated her like a sister."

"Greg, when your folks get to Princeton, I'd like for them to stay here."

"No, you don't mean that."

"I do. Your mom is going to want to spend as much time with her grandson as possible and it's only for three nights. I have the room upstairs. You'll need your parents and it will be good for Newt to have as much time with his grandparents as possible."

"I don't think it is a good idea." He was unconvinced.

"I'm not giving you an option." Lisa was firm.

Surprisingly House never pointed out that he could just move back to his apartment. He accepted that it was out of his hands. Maybe it was because he knew Lisa was right.

House sent an email to his parents suggesting the arrangements and his mother was excited to meet his friend and boss and very happy that she was going to have time to get to know her grandson. It was settled.

Late Thursday afternoon House asked Lisa to watch Newt while he went to the airport to pick up his parents. Lisa couldn't believe this, "Are you kidding? Your mother is going to want to get her hands on this baby the minute she gets off that plane. It would be pure torture to have to wait another hour to get here. Newt goes with you."

How did she know these things? House gave in quickly and saddled Newt into his car seat. All the way to the airport Newt babbled in the back seat. Occasionally a word or two would pop into the conversation, "Daddy," "mommy," "car," "dog," "nana (banana)," and "Cuddy" were some of his favorite words that kept repeating inside the jibberish.

House didn't want to go into the terminal, not after Ireland. He thought, appropriate name, "terminal." His stomach turned and he started to sweat a little. He heard the screams...the screams. His heart started racing. He sat down and looked at Newt in his stroller. Someone came up and asked him, "Are you ok mister? You look really pale?"

"Yeah, thanks." House got back up and continued to the security checkpoint. He wasn't allowed any further. Everyone was waiting for their loved ones at the checkpoint. They waited fifteen minutes and then they could see a crowd of people coming up the gangway and to the security checkpoint. About five minutes later he saw his Mom and then his Dad. They were both waving at him, he waved back. His mother picked up the pace and made a beeline straight for the stroller.

"Greg, he's adorable, oh...he's beautiful. He looks just like you when you were his age. Oh, I can't get over it, he is the spitting image." She had already scooped up Newt into her arms and then she leaned over to House, gave him a one armed hug, "I'm so sorry honey. I wish there was something I could do. She must have been special if you loved her. I know she was special, look at this beautiful baby..." His mom was crying.

His Dad was playing peekaboo with Newt, "Sorry son, those damn terrorists. Jesus you'd think they could cull out the sympathizers ...to think the bomb was directly below the passengers in the luggage area when it went off...how barbaric."

"Dad, I don't really want to hear about it. I can't deal with that right now."

"Sure, I understand. He's a cute kid. Your mom's right, he does look just like you. Blythe, let me hold him." She handed Newt over to his grandfather who bounced him and tickled him.

Blythe insisted on sitting in the back of the car with her grandson. She couldn't keep her hands off of him. She kept holding onto his little hand or his tennis shoe. She hadn't been there five minutes and she had already bonded to this little blabbering ball of curiosity.

"Does he always stare?" She asked.

"Yes, pretty much that's what he does these days...stare and babble." House said.

"You used to stare, it's uncanny. You would watch everything. People always commented on how spooky you were sometimes. You seemed to be reading their minds. Of course you weren't, but they said that the way you looked at them, it was if you could read their minds."

"Sounds familiar. Newt gets that too."

"Newt? I thought his name was Stephen." she was confused.

"His middle name is Isaac for Isaac Newton, hence "Newt"

"That's interesting...he's so cute...are you my little pumpkin?" She gave Newt kisses on his cheek. He laughed.

House smiled to himself, how many times had his mother said that to him growing up? The French called their children "little cabbages" and the Americans called their children "Pumpkins." How culinary.

"So you're living with your boss? How does that work?" His dad asked, uncertain about the arrangements.

"No, I'm just staying with her until after the memorial and the house gets built."

"House? What house?" His Dad asked.

"I was building a house for Jordan, Newt and me to move into. It's almost done. It should get a final from the city in a few weeks. Then I may move in, I'm not sure yet, it may be too big for the two of us."

"I'd like to see it."

"Sure."

They got to Cuddy's and she showed them their room. No one could pry Newt out of his grandmother's arms. Cuddy gave House a, "I told you so." look. He rolled his eyes.

When House and his father went to get gas and run by the new house, Blythe cornered Lisa. "Lisa, tell me about Jordan and Greg. Please?"

"Well, she was brilliant. You'll probably hear a lot about that at the memorial. If things had worked out differently, she might have held Isaac Newton's chair at Cambridge. But that's history. She was good for Greg. Newt is good for Greg. It gives him something to think about besides himself. I think Greg was as happy as Greg can be. He really loved her and he really misses her. He was looking forward to her and Newt coming over when it happend. Jordan was beautiful and funny."

"Whatever happened to Stacy?"

"Stacy married someone else, she has a child now too. But I think Jordan was better for him. She could make him have fun. He loved Jordan on a level that he never loved Stacy."

They talked more about Stacy and Jordan until House and his father got back. The two men were actually holding a conversation about cars (without fighting) when they walked in with some Kentucky Fried Chicken.

BLYTHE SPEAKS

When I got off that plane and saw those blue eyes in that stroller I thought I was twenty again and holding my son. Newt looks just like Greg, so much so that it really shocked me. He also has that funny way of staring at you until you have to look away. When Greg did that, it used to bug John, but I found it funny.

Don't you love holding babies? They smell so...so like a baby! He is a sweet baby. My grandson is a doll. Actually, Stephen is calmer than his Dad was. I do see that difference. He isn't as anxious. Greg was always a little on the nervous side.

John was not happy that the baby was born out of wedlock but I told him to get a grip and get over it. This was my only grandchild and my son obviously loved his mother so he needed to deal with it. I wish I had met Jordan. All the news accounts seemed to talk about was how brilliant she had been. It seems such a waste for her to die so young. But I have to give it to her, and I thank her for this, it took guts to get Stephen off that plane...to let him go with a stranger. She had to love her son an awful lot to do that. She followed her instincts and it paid off. Her son is alive...thank you Jordan, thank you God.

Greg looks like hell. He always looks like hell. I don't know where we went wrong. He never looks happy, never sounds happy, never acts happy. It's like he's had a chip on his shoulder his whole life. I don't know why. It always hurt to know that he hadn't found happiness. Every parent lives for the day that their child is happy or content. Greg has never been either. I hope he finds happiness for Stephen's sake.

Lisa says that he was happy with Jordan. It sounds like he was. He was building a house, he bought a car (thank God the motorcycle is gone) and he was planning on marrying Jordan. I do see a glimmer of happiness in him when he talks to Stephen. Oh, I guess I should call him Newt, everyone else does, but what kind of name is Newt?

I must admit, John is absolutely over the moon with the fact that his grandson's godfather is Stephen Hawkings. John is a big science fiction fan, so is Greg, and he showed me an episode of Start Trek the other night where Stephen Hawkings makes a cameo appearance. I didn't realize Dr. Hawkings was in a wheelchair until I saw the episode. I guess he suffers from ALS. That's sad. Anyway, he's going to be at the memorial tomorrow and John is very excited about meeting him.

I like Lisa. She's very down to earth and a take charge person. I can see how much she has helped Greg and I am truly grateful that she is around. She and Stephen get along great. He goes straight to her and that's a good sign.

I'll let you in on a little secret. I never liked Stacy. She was nice enough, but I always felt that at the slightest hint of trouble she would be gone. I was right. When things got tough between her and Greg after his operation, she bolted. I can't tell you the times I wanted to bolt out of my marriage. Marine fighter pilots are not the easiest of people to live with. But in my day you stuck it through and I'm glad I did. John and I are very happy now. He treats me like gold and I let him. What I mean is that you don't abandon ship at the first sign of a storm.

Must go, I have to get ready for the memorial. It seems strange going to memorial of a woman I never met and yet I feel such a deep love for her. I see how she touched my son's life and I wish I could hug her and thank her. I feel very sad.

But isn't my grandson adorable?

By the day of the memorial, the nerds had taken over just about every aspect of it. They had arranged the speakers, the music, the decorations, the wake afterwards. House had to do very little and this was fine with him. He was exhausted from waking up in the middle of the night in sweat and tears. Every night at 1:05 a.m., the same numbers as her flight. House would have the same dream, he could see Jordan sitting all alone in her seat without anyone to hold her hand or protect her, she closes her eyes and braces herself and then the flash of light, the pressure on his back, the screams...the screams. Each night he jumps up from his bed and the tears are flowing, he can't stop them. It takes him hours to get back to sleep.

When House, Lisa, Newt and his parents reached the University Chapel they were shocked to see satellite trucks taking most of the parking lot. Spain, France, Britain, Australia, Italy, India and China were just some of the networks represented on the side of the trucks. Blythe and John looked at each other with trepidation. This looked like a circus and they knew Greg would not be pleased. He hated ceremonies anyway, but one that was being broadcast out to the entire world with him and his son as the focus, that was going to be difficult.

What they didn't know was that House had already prepared himself for this. He knew that the world wanted to put a face on the terrorist tragedy and Jordan was a pretty face with a very dramatic tale of sacrifice for her son. Her story involved celebrities, nobel prize winners, and now politicians. It would probably end up being the movie of the week a few months from now. He knew that for everyone's sake he needed to stay calm and focused.

House was allowed to drive the car up to the front of the chapel. They all got out and Blythe took Newt out of his carseat. Newt was looking around excitedly at all the people and cameras. He was dressed in a little top and pants that was sewn to look like a suit. His grandmother had bought it in San Diego and brought it with her. He wanted to get down and walk, so his grandmother let him. He held her hand and his father's as they walked into the chapel. The photo was on the front page the next day.

The chapel itself is a large gothic chapel with beautiful restored stained glass panels. It is magnificent and House thought that the British would feel right at home in it. It looked like it had been imported from England. The chapel seats more than 2,000 and most of the chapel was filled.

House had worn his dark blue suit. His mother had ironed a light blue shirt and he had picked out a tie that Jordan had bought him in Cambridge. It had the Cambridge coat of arms on it. Lisa was in a two piece ST. Johns' navy blue suit. Blythe wore the obligatory plain black dress and John was in a blue suit like his son.

They started their way up the aisle to the front of the chapel. The chapel went quiet as they made their way to their seats. House saw Stephen Hawkings off to the side about half way back. House went over to Stephen. "Stephen, I believe that Jordan would have preferred for you to sit with us. She thought of you as her family. Why don't you and Geoff come and sit in the family pew right behind us." Stephen was touched. He was wheeled up to the family pew and House took his seat. His mom had toys to keep Newt occupied, but Newt had so many people to observe that he didn't need the toys for quite awhile.

The music started, The Princeton Chapel Choir started to sing:

And did those feet in ancient time

Walk upon England's mountains green?

And was the holy lamb of god

On England's pleasant pastures seen?

And did the countenance divine

Shine forth upon our clouded hills?

And was Jerusalem builded here

Among those dark satanic mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!

Bring me my arrows of desire!

Bring me my spear: o clouds unfold!

Bring me my chariots of fire!

I will not cease from metal fight;

Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand

Till we have built Jerusalem

In England's green and pleasant land.

This was England's famous hymn, sung by most of the Oxbridge University choirs and Jordan had loved it. She told him the story of the time she was in a pub in Soho with a very rowdy English rugby team. They were all kicked out into the mew where the team started to sing their bawdy rugby songs. The team was stinking drunk and they were falling over themselves. Just as the pub was closing and she was about to leave, the rugby team started singing "Jerusalem." Instead of the previous drunken slur and loud yelling that they had called singing, the voices became melodic, angelic and serious. They sounded like a chapel choir and it took Jordan's breath away. After they were finished, they were slurring and swerving all over again. Jordan simply got up and left without saying a word, she wanted to keep the image of the angelic rugby team in her head. She always equated "Jerusalem" as the anthem of the British backbone. She admired it.

The first speaker was her friend John Parkington who had worked with Jordan the first time she was in Cambridge as the Lacasian Fellow to Stephen Hawkings. John told funny stories about their travels through England and their attempts to drink their way through the 101 pubs in Cambridge. He then broke down as he talked about her kindness, generosity and cheerfulness. His wife Carol had to go up to the podium and escort him to his seat. The nerds were barely hanging on to a thread.

Lisa was crying, Blythe was crying, almost everyone in the chapel was in tears by now. House was solemn but not tearful.

A singer came forward and sang the only song that House had requested, it was her favorite song and she told him that it was even more poignant now that she had him and Newt in her life:

There are places I remember

All my life, though some have changed

Some forever not for better

Some have gone and some remain

All these places had their moments

With lovers and friends

I still can recall

Some are dead and some are living

In my life I've loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers

there is no one compares with you

And these memories lose their meaning

When I think of love as something new

Though I know I'll never lose affection

For people and things that went before

I know I'll often stop and think about them

In my life I love you more

Though I know I'll never lose affection

For people and things that went before

I know I'll often stop and think about them

In my life I love you more

In my life I love you more

House could not contain the tears and a few escaped down his cheek. The cameras zoomed in. His Mother took his hand in hers. Newt looked at House and his little voice could be heard throughout the chapel. "Daddy, daddy, daddy..." House reached over and picked him up. Every woman in the chapel started sobbing. Lisa was going through kleenex like mad and was sure she was going to run out.

Stephen Hawkings took the podium. He had already typed out his memorial so that the computer would not have to interpret it in real time. The speech was very generous. He compared Jordan to the first female Isaac Newton, he talked about the jealousy that her intelligence had incited among her male peers and the beauty of her soul and ability to rise above it all. He then mentioned that she must have been intelligent, she named her son after him. The mourners laughed.

Stephen was wheeled back to the pew behind House. The vice president got up and gave a very short speech about her sacrifice and the sacrifice of everyone on that plane for their country. He said the whole nation admired her bravery and her ability to keep her wits and sneak her son to safety. It was appropriate, not overdone so House wasn't upset. The V.P. took his seat.

House got up from the pew and went to the podium, he simply said, "Jordan had an uncanny way of making me laugh when I didn't feel like laughing and love when I didn't think I could love. I hope to get to a place where remembering Jordan does not involve remembering how she died. If I try, I can see her with Newt playing and feeding him, nurturing him like she had nurtured me and everyone around her. I feel her loss keenly and I am reminded of Byron's poem:

SO, we'll go no more a-roving

So late into the night,

Though the heart be still as loving,

And the moon be still as bright.

For the sword outwears its sheath,

And the soul wears out the breast,

And the heart must pause to breathe,

And love itself have rest.

Though the night was made for loving,

And the day returns too soon,

Yet we'll go no more a-roving

By the light of the moon.

House sat down. The chapel was quiet.

The pastor said very few words. She talked about Jordan's belief in an afterlife and indicated that she believed that they would all see Jordan again, on a different level of consciousness. She looked over and smiled at House, acknowledging his scepticism.

As the mourners filed out House was amused as Jimi Hendrix played over the speakers. Danny loved Jimi. The stereo was playing 'House Burning Down." He smiled. House's mother looked at the speakers, confused at to why this music was playing at a funeral. "It's ok Mom, Danny asked for this." Blythe relaxed once she knew it had been a part of the plan.

Jordan had never wanted a "reception." Both Edward and House knew she wanted a wake. The politicians and officials were surprised to find an open bar, a barbeque and Jimi Hendrix playing at the hall where her wake was being held. There was a table with photos of her and a book of anecdotes that had already been half filled. Others were waiting in line to add to it. People were dancing, laughing, crying and just letting it all out. Danny would have loved it. There was also a box of cards with her famous recipes and everyone was welcomed to take them.

After an hour, Blythe and John volunteered to take Newt home and put him down for a nap. John told House to feel free to get drunk, he'd come and pick him up, just like he did when he was a teenager. House gave his Dad a hug, a short brisk hug, but a hug. His Dad was moved. House wasn't sure why he did it, but a lot of things had changed inside of him since becoming a father.

House wanted desperately to find a distraction from all of the trite words of comfort that were being bantered about by those who barely knew her. He saw a young brunette sitting near the window. She was gorgeous. She was about 25, tall, leggy and big breasted. She smiled at him and then came over. "I'm very sorry Dr. House about your loss, if I can do anything to help you, feel free to call me." She took a pen from her purse and grabbed his hand and wrote on the back of it, "Shelly, 809-221-3939. She gave him a sexy smile and then went back to her table.

House looked at the number and then looked up. He was being watched by Cuddy who just shook her head back and forth in dismay. House decided not to go over to Shelly, at least not while Lisa was watching. But he did transfer the number to a napkin and pocketed it.

A few minutes later, Lisa came over to him with a plate of food, "You need to eat, I can tell you're losing weight. The pounds are coming off faster than your pants at a whorehouse."

"How would you know how fast my pants come off at a whorehouse...Oh, making a few bucks on the side?"

"Come on, mange..." She put the plate on the table and he sat down to eat.

"It really was a beautiful service. You should have seen the women's restroom afterwards. I've never seen so many women trying to use a mirror to repair their makeup. God, what a tearjerker. What did that girl want?"

"What girl?"

"That's right, your eyes were so fixed on her breasts you probably don't remember her face...the brunette."

"Just platitudes and offers to help." He told her the truth.

"Yeah, I saw that smile, I'm sure she was going to off to help with your zipper."

"It frequently gets stuck."

"House, be a good boy tonight. A lot of people are watching you. It's been lest than a month since she died. "

"Ok Mom. I promise not to shag the brunette TONIGHT."

Several hours later, John House made good on his word and came back to pick up his son and Lisa. Lisa liked John a lot. He was funny and very frank. He looked you in the eye and said what he meant, no B.S. The more she got to know him, the more she thought that the problem between House and his Dad were that they were more alike than different. If John House had been raised during the seventies and eighties, he probably would have been as irreverent as his son. As it was, he ended up in the military where the structure kept his personality in check. John probably disapproved of his son's actions because it reminded him too much of himself, the part of him that he had to stuff down to function in the military.

House got home and was relieved. The ceremonies were over. The memorial was done. He could now put grieving behind and get on with his life. He was anxious to get back to work, anxious to get back to normal and just plain anxious. House went to sleep. At 1:05 a.m.,when he jumped up from his bed with his heart pounding, he wiped the tears away and laid back down. He fell asleep at 4:00 a.m.

John and Blythe packed to go home to San Diego. "Honey, why don't you and Newt come out to San Diego to live. I could look after him while you worked, we could see more of you two."

"Mom, you know my life is here. Besides, with my reputation, I doubt I would find a position as good as the one I have here. But I promise that we will come out and anytime you want to come back, I'll pay for the ticket."

"You know how much we love you. And we love Newt. Please don't be a stranger anymore. We are your family."

"I know Mom. I love you too."

The following week House began to get his head in the game. On occasion he would drag Wilson out to the new house at lunch time. "I think we can move in sometime in the next two weeks."

"You need more furniture to fill that house...it's pretty big for the two of you. You still look like hell. Are you still waking up at night?"

House nodded yes.

"You know it is classic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Waking up at the same time each night, having the same dream, reliving the events. You need to get in and see someone. If you don't, things will get worse and you won't be able to function. Sleep deprivation is a killer...especially for someone who uses their brain for a living, although not much to worry about there, you rarely use your brain these days...Seriously, you need to get in to see a therapist who specializes in these things."

"Yada yada, yada yada...you are a broken record."

It was six weeks after Jordan's death and House was about ready to move into the houses. He had gotten home late from working up a case. Lisa had turned on the baby monitor when she went to bed since House wasn't home yet. She was having trouble sleeping herself. She was worried about House. Cameron had come to her and said that, although his work was improving, he had developed a shaking in his right hand. She didn't think he was sleeping and he had lost some more weight. Lisa could see that he was losing weight.

She heard something through the baby monitor, it sounded like muffled crying, it wasn't a baby's crying. It had to be House. She felt sick to her stomach, House sounded so distraught, so lost. She got up and went down the hall to his room. She knocked on the door and heard nothing. House was trying to compose himself.

She opened the door anyway. He was sitting on the edge of the bed in a t-shirt and shorts with his back to her. "Yes?" He asked.

"I'm having trouble sleeping, could you use some hot chocolate or a snack?"

"I just had to get up to go to the bathroom."

"House." She said it as if she knew he was lying. "Come on, join me in the kitchen."

He reluctantly got up and followed her. When she turned on the kitchen light she turned and saw the red watery eyes. It melted her heart. He sat on a stool and she started the kettle.

"Wilson told me that you have been having dreams about the explosion. Is that true?"

"I'm going to have to get Guido to break his legs."

She gave him a look and he finally admitted, "Yes, I have the same dream each night."

She turned off the kettle and turned to let him finish what he was saying. "I ...I see her...she's alone. That's what hurts the most, she's all alone, there's no one around her as she sits there. She's just waiting, quietly waiting, she braces herself and then..." He lost all control and started sobbing. Lisa came over to him and put her arms around him and brought his head to her chest. "I feel so powerless, unable to protect the people I love."

She stroked his head and back as he leaned into her. He felt horrible, crying like a child, but the tears wouldn't stop. He leaned back and looked into her blue eyes. She was looking at him with understanding, compassion and so much affection. He knew she wasn't judging him.

He reached out quickly grabbed her and kissed her. Lisa's mind filled with warnings and admonitions. He needed a friend, not this. He didn't really want her, he wanted compassion. This wasn't right. But it didn't matter, all the feelings she had for House over the last fifteen years were funneled into her response to his kiss. It was passionate and loving. They started fondling each other. He wanted her, he needed her compassion.

They went back to her room. He took the lace strap of her cotton nightgown and pulled it down on the right shoulder as they stood next to her bed. He kissed her shoulder and then her lips. He then pulled the strap on her left shoulder and the gown fell to the ground. He smiled at the slightly uneven breasts, the thin waist, the small thin hips. He wanted her. He pushed her down to the bed as he got out of his shorts. She reached up and grabbed his t-shirt and helped him take it off. They kissed deeply as they each explored the other's body. He rolled to his back and then she mounted him. I t didn't take long for either of them to climax. The sex had been a release for both of them. She sat on top of him looking down. His eyes were closed and he was quiet. She fell off to the side and he turned to face her. He opened his eyes and then kissed her again. The release of tension and anxiety had relaxed House, he was the calmest he had been since the explosion. But then it hit them both at the same time, this had been a mistake. She was his boss and his friend. What were they doing?

House was even more confused. He felt guilty. Not for having sex, he saw that as a physical release that he desperately needed, but because he had felt something for Lisa while they were having sex. It wasn't just a meaningless, pity screw. He actually wanted HER. He felt guilty, how could he want another woman so soon after Jordan's death? There was something wrong with him.

She saw all of this in his eyes. The self-recrimination, the confusion, and somewhere in there, the feelings he had for her. "Greg..."

He kissed her to keep her quiet. "Let's not analyze this yet. There's going to be plenty of time for that. Let's just hold each other and get some sleep."

Lisa heard Newt through the baby monitor. She looked up, it was 6:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Ughh, children were work. She looked at him laying next to her and he was sleeping soundly. She didn't want to wake him. She went down the hall and got Newt out of his crib.

"Hey sweetie, you're pretty chirpie...you need your diaper changed?"

"Cuddy...nana. Daddy."

"You want a banana and your Daddy? Ok, let me change you first and then we'll go find both." She changed his diaper and then took him down the hall so that he could see his Daddy sleeping. He tried to wiggle out of her arms to go to see his daddy, but Lisa took him into the kitchen. "Daddy needs his sleep, let Cuddy feed you. I'll get you started on that banana."

House stumbled out to the kitchen for a cup of coffee around 9:00 a.m. He looked like he could use some more sleep.

"If you want to go back to bed, it's ok. I can watch Newt. I'm just doing laundry, do you guys have any? Silly question, you have a baby...there's always laundry." She kept talking to fill in any gaps of silence between them. House just watched her babble.

"About last night." House started right in on it. "It was great but we both know it was a mistake, right?"

"Sure." She was devastated and started to clean up to keep her hands occupied.

"It's a mistake because it's too soon, we're friends and you're my boss." He looked at her for a reaction.

"Right..." There was a pause and her face had registered her disappointment, "Don't look at me that way...I agree with you. We both just needed a physical release last night. It's ok...it's OK."

He was pretty sure from her body language that it wasn't Ok. But they had to find a way back to what it was before and this was her way of letting him off the hook.

"I have to go to the new house today. I think the contractor is going to give me the keys and I can move in this week. It's probably good that we get out of your hair soon. Just so we don't need anymore physical releases."

"Oh, you weren't that good." She laughed.

"Gee, thanks." He acted hurt.

Chase, Cameron and Foreman were all waiting for House to show. They had a new case and he was late. He had been late most of the week because he was moving into the new house and his mind was preoccupied.

He had Newt with him when they did show up. "What's Newt doing here?" Cameron asked as House automatically handed him over to her.

"Check up. After I get you guys going, he gets a checkup, some vaccinations and then he's off to daycare."

Cameron loved holding Newt, it was like holding a piece of House. Newt was picking up more and more vocabulary. "Binky, baby, bocks (blocks), bye-bye, J-J (for Wilson), doo (dude), cracker, ca-ca..." all came out at one time or another as he sat with Cameron. She pulled out the blocks that House kept in the corner of his office for whenever Newt was around.

House and Foreman went down to neurology to talk to the neurosurgeons, to see if a specific procedure could be modified for their patient. Cameron stayed behind with Newt. She watched him place the blocks in a pattern that allowed him to stack them in a pyramid. When she saw him stack the blocks 8 high, she got excited. She was curious about something. She pulled out five blocks.

"Newt, I am going to count..." with each number she showed him a block and put it in a group. "One block, two blocks, three blocks, four blocks, five blocks. See there are five blocks here. One, two, three, four, five. " She repeated this over and over.

When House got back she said, "You need to see this."

"Later." House was preoccupied with the case.

"NO, House you need to see this NOW. It's about Newt." She got his attention.

Chase and Foreman were standing nearby. Cameron got on the floor. There were five blocks on the floor in a row. "Newt, how many are three blocks? Three blocks, show us three blocks."

Newt looked around at everyone watching him. Cameron repeated it,"Newt, show us three blocks." Finally Newt stood up reached out and knocked two of the blocks away and then sat back down and looked around. Three blocks sat in a row in front of the blue-eyed baby.

There was complete silence. "Try that again." House told her.

She lined the blocks up again. "Newt, how many are four blocks? Show me four blocks."

Once again Newt looked up to his Dad and then to Cameron. He grabbed a block and put it behind him. Four blocks sat in a row in front of him.

"Did you know that he can stack blocks eight high without falling? And he can create a pyramid type structure. House, do you know what that means?"

"He's an architect?" House mused.

"Well, you're being funny, but in a way yes. I took a lot of courses in undergrad in child psychology and development, he shouldn't be doing this until kindergarten. He understands spatial relationships at a level that is way beyond his fourteen months. He's smart, he's scary smart."

"Great, just what I need, a son that's smarter than me." House wasn't kidding. House had been smarter than his parents and he knew the rings he ran around his old man.

"House, you need to get him some one on one work with an early learning specialist. He needs to be tested." Cameron was serious.

House said nothing but just shook his head in quiet resignation.

After he passed his checkup, he took Newt to the daycare. "Dr. House, I've been meaning to call you." Ms. Cranston, the daycare supervisor, stopped him.

"Yes?"

"It's Stephen, we think he needs tutoring. We get smart kids in here all the time. I mean we have children from a lot of the faculty at Princeton and the doctors at the hospital, but Stephen is off the charts...all the charts. He needs more attention than we can give him. I'd like him tested. Princeton has an excellent early childhood development testing department. I think you should consider it."

"Well, you're the second person today who has suggested that. Where do I sign him up?"

House was overwhelmed. He was dealing with a difficult case at work that wasn't responding to the differential diagnosis. He was also trying to move into a new house. Now his son needed special attention. On top of it, he no longer had Cuddy to fall back on for babysitting. He needed to find a nighttime nanny that could take care of Newt on the days when House had to go in early or work late. As if this wasn't enough, he was still having the dreams and he was sleep deprived.

Lisa had backed off and given House space. She could sense that he felt uneasy around her and guilty about what had happened. But after they moved into the house, she missed Newt. Wilson had invited her to lunch and she was lamenting, "I miss that baby. I don't know why, I was exhausted each night helping House take care of him. Newt's so smart, he's curious and more than a handful. But he'd look up and grin and you'd just have to laugh. I miss those little fingers trying to grab my earrings. Oh and those peanut butter hugs and kisses. And his sheer delight when I came home from work. I feel like something is missing now. I really fell in love with that baby."

"Well, he's only five miles away and I am sure House will be more than happy to have some help. Right now he's scrambling to find an early learning tutor. Apparently Newt is too smart for school."

Lisa went to see the new house a week after they moved out. It was a one story modern design, three bedrooms, one office/media room, backing up to the lake. It was gorgeous but bare. The furniture from House's apartment barely filled one room, let alone a 4,500 square foot home. Newt's room wasn't decorated and it made Lisa a little sad. She knew Danny would have decorated it in some "little boy motif." Most of the windows had sheets on them because House hadn't had time to get window coverings. Lisa wanted to step in, take over, help out. But she knew that right now that would make House feel uncomfortable.

"It's gorgeous House. Needs an interior decorator, but it is gorgeous."

House was picking up toys and throwing them into a corner when he turned around and asked,"Cuddy, do you know any nannys? I need someone desperately."

"Maria's older daughter is looking for a job. She goes to college during the day, but she's available nights. I like her, she's sweet and she's smart."

House looked relieved and asked for her phone number. He took out a napkin from his suit coat pocket and wrote it down, "Theresa, 808-488-2483. Nanny" He then turned the napkin over and saw Shelly's phone number from the memorial. A smile crossed his lips.

House managed to hire Theresa and she lived in the little studio that had been built over the garage. She picked up and took care of Newt in the evening whenever House was still working. She liked the job because it allowed her to go to school and get her homework done. She found Dr. House a little hard to read and get used to. He was somewhat brisk and rarely smiled around her. But he was fair and he was paying her well. And she loved Newt, he was always making her laugh.

House was notified a few weeks later that Newt would be receiving $250,000 as a settlement for being one of the released passengers. He was also going to receive $2.0 million as the heir to one of the bomb victims. Jordan had a $250,000 life insurance policy so Newt now had a trust fund of $2.5 million dollars. It made House's head spin. Because it was so much money and needed to be actively managed, the court had ruled that Newt could keep the money in an irrevocable trust, not the typical blocked account. The only catch was that the trustee had to be someone other than House. Usually, if the parent is the trustee, the account is blocked until the child reaches 18. This means that if the parent wants to use the money to pay for anything, they have to go into court and petition for permission to withdraw that amount from the account. House named Lisa Cuddy as trustee and it was approved. Since the account was not blocked, Lisa could write checks without the court's permission. However, she would have to account to the court once a year for every check she wrote.

"I'm honored that you trust me with his money." She said the day he gave her the checkbook to his trust.

"Well, it was either you or Wilson and let's face it, Wilson likes to give money away...what else would account for three wives and three divorces?"

It had been three months and House was still having problems sleeping. He thought a diversion might help so he took the napkin under the magnet off the refrigerator and dialed Shelly.

"Hello?" a sultry voice answered the phone.

"Hello, this is Greg House. We met at Dr. Jordan Morgan's wake?"

"Of course, I remember you Dr. House. How are you?"

"I'm doing well. I was wondering if you would like to go to a movie and dinner tomorrow night?"

"I'm not a movie buff, but I'd love to have dinner with you."

The arrangements were made and House asked Theresa to watch Newt Saturday night. She was fine with it. House showered, cropped his beard, combed his hair, put on levis and a clean t-shirt. It was a hot summer night. When he picked Shelly up he felt under-dressed. She had chosen a summer low-cut cocktail sheath to wear. Her shiny dark brown hair was pinned up and she wore just enough makeup to make her face look gorgeous. Her lips were red and full. He felt like skipping dinner and taking her straight home to ravish her.

Shelly knew this effect she had on men, especially older men. They were such easy saps. She had hit the jackpot. Greg House was well known around Princeton and now nationally. He was sexy, in an older-man way. And he had money, or at least he probably had money. After all, he was a doctor.

She looked him over as he went to the bar to get her a drink. He wasn't buff, he obviously didn't work out that much. And he did have that limp, so dancing was out, which is a shame because dancing is one of her best weapons. A 25 year old rubbing up against an older guy on the dance floor always got them hot. She noted that he liked looking at her breasts, and why not? They were the best that money could buy

She knew that if she refused to go to bed with him tonight, he would be hers for the taking. Men like House needed the chase. He probably thought they were going to go straight home to his house and screw. Poor Dr. House, he looked like he needed to get laid. He was skinnier than the first time she met him. He's losing weight, probably not sleeping. Well, just wait Dr. House, once I come to get my hands on you, I'll screw your brains out and you'll sleep like a baby. And if you don't, well I have something in my medicine chest that will help you.

"So what do you do for a living?" He asked her.

"I do some local modeling, but I also go to college. I'm majoring in physical education. I want to teach it in high school. I think it is so important for children to be fit, especially these days." In reality, she let guys pay her way through life, that was her local modeling gig.

"How noble." He said tongue in cheek. "So, just how old are you?"

"Oh I hate birthdays...let's not talk about them." She took a drink of her pina colada.

"Birthdays are good for you - the more you have the longer you live." He smiled.

"Twenty-five. I have a birthday next month."

"Let me guess, you'll be twenty-six?" He gave her a sly, sexy smile.

She giggled. He took a drink and tried to sum her up. He thought to himself, "I don't think I'm going to be discussing quantum singularities or the strategies of Julius Caesar with her. The only cosmic questions we'll be discussing will be ribbed or french tip?"

It was ok, he just wanted a mindless distraction anyway. They spent the evening together and when House put his hand on her thigh she didn't move it. That was a good sign. In the car he turned to her, "My house is just a few miles from here, would you like to see it?"

"I really would, but I need to get home. I'm getting up early to go crew on Carnegie Lake." It was a lie but it gave her an out for the evening.

House kept the disappointment inside and drove her home. He let her out and said goodnight without giving her a kiss. This threw her off, she needed to seal the deal,

"Dr. House, I would really like to see you again. Maybe you could invite me to your house again and I could cook for you?"

House, thinking with his little brain, thought, maybe this can be salvaged? "Sure, next Friday?"

"Great, pick me up at 6:30 p.m.,ok?" She closed the door to her apartment and laughed. He was easy pickings and horny...poor guy.

Throughout the week House kept thinking of her body and what it was going to be like when they finally did the deed. It was a great distraction. At work House had just pulled a miracle out of a hat and diagnosed a local politician with an Aspergillus Niger lung infection caused by the air conditioner venting system in his house. The politician was grateful, Cuddy was grateful and the team was happy.

Newt had finally been tested. House asked Cuddy, as Newt's trustee, to go to the appointment with him to get the results of the testing. Dr. Altain, the head of Princeton's child development testing unit, was a kind looking gentleman with a sweet nature, perfect for working with children. He sat behind the desk and looked at Newt's results.

"Dr. House, I don't envy you. You are going to have special challenges raising your son. Stephen is incredibly gifted. In fact, we've only seen one other child come through here with similar scores. It is hard to get an accurate score for a fifteen month old, but we did our best. Your son's verbal skills are high, very high. But we see this level of skill in other children, not often, but enough that it doesn't surprise us. It is your son's math and spatial skills that are off the chart." He took a deep breath and handed House a chart of the results.

The chart showed that Newt had the verbal capacity to understand language of a six year old. His verbal skills for speaking were above normal too, his vocabulary was mixed, he had the vocabulary of a four year old and the ability to put together sentences of a three year old. He was already using two words together, like "Daddy nana," for Daddy I want a banana" and he was accurate 94 of the time when he was asked to point out a certain object in a picture.

Then they handed House a chart that said his spatial and math abilities could not be measured. They were higher than a six year old, but without the verbal ability to answer questions, they couldn't actually plot where he was on the chart. Which meant quite literally, he was off the chart.

"We thought he might be a savant. But his social skills are excellent. He is personable, relates to both adults and other children and he has no trouble making eye contact. Your son is just one of those 1 in a million or billion that come along that are too bright for our tests."

"We highly recommend that he be transferred to our child development unit. It is a daycare for the very gifted. We use numerous activities to stimulate their abilities and bring out their gifts. It costs the same as the campus daycare and operates during the same hours. I know we are further across campus from your hospital, but I am sure that your son will benefit greatly from being at the unit."

House just sat in the chair dazed and rubbing a finger back and forth across his chin.

Lisa was excited. "Are you telling us he is a genius?"

"Oh, definitely. He's going to wipe the floor with all of us. It's going to be rough as a parent. He will be so bright that he will find it hard to relate to others who don't get it as fast as he does. School may bore him, he may actually do poorly in school. Which is why he needs to be kept in an environment where he doesn't get bored." House looked like a deer in headlights. "Dr.House, you look surprised. Surely it doesn't surprise you that genetically this child was destined to be extremely gifted. I looked at your previous tests, the ones you provided to the clinic from when you were a child. They show that you were functioning at a level high above your age. And I know about Dr. Morgan's reputation in physics. What did you think you would get if you had a child?"

"Chewbacca?" he paused, "Well, when do we switch him over?" House asked.

"He can start Monday." Dr. Altain told him.

Lisa and House stepped into the hot humid summer. "I could kill Jordan. How am I going to raise this child...it was going to be hard enough raising one I thought was just bright. I need to talk to Stephen, maybe he has some thoughts on this."

"You're going to talk to Newt about this?" she asked.

"No, are you crazy? I mean Stephen Hawkings. He was born a genius. Maybe he can give me some advice."

"It sounds like from what he just said, you were also born a genius or at least very gifted, and look you were the product of two normal parents and a somewhat normal environment."

"Yeah Lisa, precisely what I mean, look at me? Social misfit, addict, unable to tolerate normal social contracts, bored and unhappy most of the time. I'm just the picture of a well-adjusted adult. I don't want this for Newt. I want him to be happy."

"You know most people would be celebrating if they found out their child was a genius."

"Well most people don't know the hell it can be to be a genius or they'd be worried."

"Well, I know I am excited, I'm the trustee for the next Einstein. Wow."

House went and picked up his son from daycare. Newt met his dad with a big smile and big hug. House always made a silly face, called him "loser" or "beer gut" and kissed and blew on his belly until he laughed. They drove home. House was silent. Newt kept a running conversation with his soft sided superman doll...oh, yeah, House remembered, boys don't have dolls, they have "action figures." House had never paid any attention to Newt's ramblings but now he could hear it. Newt was saying things like, "fly me, gun bang, mercy, owww, hurt" apparently the action figure was taking or giving a pounding to someone. This was a vocabulary of a preschooler, not a young toddler. Since being with other kids in the daycare, Newt's vocabulary had grown by leaps and bounds. House needed a drink.

It was Friday. Getting laid was now a mission for House. He wanted to get in bed with Shelly and have mindless sex with, no emotional connection, no chance for love, just screwing until it hurt. He thought of Shelly's breasts brimming over her dress. He was pretty sure that she wasn't naturally well endowed and that she had a good plastic surgeon. Still they'd be nice to play with. Then he thought of Jordan's naturally high and symmetrical breasts and the nights he spent sleeping with his head on them. He ached for her and her beautiful breasts and hips. House was turning into Shelly's neighborhood as he thought of lovemaking with Jordan.

And then his thoughts turned to Lisa and he felt something stir. Something he hadn't expected. He was getting hard thinking of Lisa and her tight figure. The sex with her had been more than mindless. He had connected with her in a way that reminded him of his connection with Danny. Now he felt guilty, why was he having carnal thoughts about her? She was his friend, the sex had been great, but a mistake, just pity sex on her part. House found Shelly's apartment building and got out. He needed to stop thinking and just get laid.

Shelly had made it easy for House to have his way with her. She had on a loose fitting halter blouse with no bra and a short skirt with no panty hose. Even the shoes were easy to get off. She was going in for the kill tonight.

Shelly had brought over flour tortillas, cheese, vegetables and mushrooms and made quesadillas. Not exactly a difficult meal to prepare, but filling enough. House thought about Jordan's Chicken Khorma and beef stroganoff, he missed them both. Even Lisa had whipped up a delicious chicken cordon bleu. Obviously, Shelly was not gifted in the culinary arts, but maybe her art was yet to come.

They sat with their wine on the couch. "Where's your son?" She asked.

"He's in the studio over the garage with his Nanny this evening. She's going to put him down in his room in a couple of hours. So we have some time alone."

"That's good." She moved closer to him, put down her wine, grabbed his glass and put it on the coffee table. Then she ran her hand over his thigh and up to his zipper where she placed her palm flat over his crotch so she could feel the excitement mounting in him. He reached over, undid the tie behind her neck on the halter and watched her breasts spill out. He started playing with them as he kissed her. She started rubbing him. Within minutes they were in his room and he was inside of her. He was trying to hold back, make it last, but she was doing everything in her power to make him explode. She started bucking hard and fast while talking dirty and kissing him deeply. He couldn't hold on. He lost it and within seconds he was spent.

"Oh, that was great." She said.

But to House it didn't ring true. He knew women and he knew how to pleasure them. This had been all about him and making the sex go fast. Still, he had to admit, he enjoyed it and he could see that she wasn't running away, so round two was just a half an hour away. He was sure that the second round would go better.

Thirty minutes later they had sex again. Once again, it was all about House and his pleasure. She asked him how he wanted it and he told her. She bent over to let him take her from behind. It took a little longer this time, but not much. She did everything she could to make it quick. When he was done, he offered to pleasure her, she feigned surprise. "Greg, I've already climaxed."

House was a connoisseur of women's physical responses to sex. He enjoyed giving them an orgasm and watching and feeling their body respond. He especially enjoyed it if he was inside when it happened. He knew all of the physiological signs and she had none of them. Why was she playing him? He was curious.

She jumped up and took a shower and then asked House to take her home. As she got out of the car she said, "I'm still hot from the sex, do you want to come inside for another go?"

House was still curious but he had promised Theresa he would be back by midnight and it was almost midnight now. "Some other time. I'll call you."

"Great."

Wilson was on his way over to House's place with some fish and chips for dinner. He had been in the office when House got the message that Jordan's things had arrived from England and were waiting at the port in Philadelphia. House had arranged for them to be delivered late this afternoon. Wilson knew this was going to be difficult for House, so he told him he would come over around 6:00 p.m. with dinner and they could unpack the stuff. House didn't argue. He knew he was going to need a hand.

"Fish and chips..." Wilson said, handing the bag over to House in the kitchen.

"Does it still have the shiny silver skin on it?" House asked with a grin.

"What are you talking about?"

"In England it sometimes comes with the skin on. It's wrapped in brown waxed paper and you eat it fast. It sounds disgusting but it's actually pretty good."

"I think I'm losing my appetite." It was a lie, Wilson had been to Italy and had eaten in several restaurants where the head of the fish had been removed after being served at the table. Wilson was hungry, he could eat just about anything.

Wilson looked around. There were several boxes marked, "Newt's room", some marked "kitchen" and others marked "salon" (the British word for living room.) House had told Gemma and Stephen to sell or give away the big items, like Jordan's bed, her television, Newt's crib and most of the other bedroom furniture. They had already sent him the items from her jewelry box, including the diamond earrings House had just given her. Looking around, Wilson couldn't tell where Jordan's things were. While House took the fish out and put it on paper plates, Wilson continued to snoop. He finally found her boxes in the third bedroom, hiding in the dark.

They ate dinner. Wilson started in again, "House, you're still losing weight. Christ you have to be 25 pounds thinner than just three months ago. You're depressed, that's understandable, why don't you get help?"

"Come on, depression is merely anger without enthusiasm. I'll start eating soon, as soon as I can get all of this unpacking and decorating behind me. Besides, I'm finally getting my other needs met, now I can concentrate on food."

"What, you're getting laid?"

"Man cannot live by bread alone." House paused, "Well, I guess unless he's locked in a cage and that's all you feed him."

"Who's the lucky nubile teenager."

"She's not that nubile...she's 25...the brunette I pointed out at the wake."

"Do you think going out with a 25 year old is wise?"

"If I want your opinion, I'll ask you to fill out the necessary forms."

"Ok." Wilson shook his head, "Let's start unpacking, I think we need to start in the guest bedroom."

"Not a good idea."House said quietly.

"That's why I came, to help you deal with it. Let's get it over with."

House wasn't sure he wanted to open the boxes. He had thought about donating them. But then, Newt was entitled to something of his mother's and that would be something in those boxes hidden in the guest room. He slowly got up, took a look at Wilson and then walked down the hall to the guest room. Wilson followed him with a knife to open the boxes.

There were six boxes of various sizes. He opened the first one and there were books and papers, including various thesis, notes and calculations. Inside was a note from Stephen. "I've made photocopies of these. I think there are some important issues to be explored in these theories. If anything comes from them, I will make sure Jordan gets credit."

Wilson started going through the papers, he had never seen the work of a genius. He looked at the meticulous formulas and theorems, there were stacks and stacks of them. He was impressed, these should be kept, just as you would keep Einstein's notes or Hawking's computer printouts...this might be important historical data. He put them off to the side. "You need to get a professional in to preserve those otherwise they'll fade or deteriorate." House nodded in agreement.

They opened the second box and House pushed away from it, almost falling backwards to the floor. Wilson wondered what it was. He looked into the box and it had clothes...pants, shirts, levis, jackets, suits. He didn't understand why this had caused House to bolt.

"What is it?"

"The smell. It's her smell. God, I can't do this." House was sweating and pale.

"Ok, I'll close this box up and Lisa and I will take care of it. If she sees something that Newt should have, she'll save it, otherwise we'll give it away. Ok?"

"Yes."

Wilson packed the box back up and set it aside. They went through the other boxes. The third box was filled with photos and scrapbook items. It was a history of Jordan with photos from when she was a platinumed haired little girl with freckles to a photo of her with Stephen Hawkings on the night they attended the OBE dinner. It was on that night that Jordan and House had reconnected. There were albums filled with photos of Newt, including photos of Newt with Stephen Hawkings, Newt with House and Newt with his mother. There were also several photos of just House and Jordan. They looked so content. In addition to the photo albums there were cd's of additional photos.

The scrapbooks had airplane ticket stubs, Stephen Hawkings thumb print on a napkin that said, "Newt rocks." There were post cards, greeting cards, announcements and invitations. There was also the hospital wrist band for Newt from when he was born. Wilson took the photo and scrap albums and put them on one of the built in bookshelves. He took the rest of the contents and put them in a drawer in the media room.

They moved on to other boxes and found old baby dolls, a baby blanket, several photos in frames, jewelry boxes, music sheets and other items. House packed most of it back up and realized that all of the boxes except the clothing should be kept. He knew what was in the boxes now and knew he could deal with them.

After Wilson left, House sat down with a single malt whiskey. He knocked it back and then went back into the guest room. He opened the box with Danny's clothes. He pulled out a cardigan sweater than had obviously not been washed and still had Danny's smell. He buried his face in it and let the smell waft through him. He then held it to his chest and stood still for a few minutes. He thought about sleeping next to her and waking up to the smell of her. He then took the cardigan into Newt's crib and placed it next to him. The next morning he found Newt crawled up in the sweater, sleeping better than he had for weeks.

Lisa watched as House seemed to melt away. She tried buying him pastries and goodies but they just sat on his desk until either Chase or Foreman ate them. She took him out to lunch on the pretense of office work or questions about Newt's trust but he would eat half his meal and then be done. The bags under his eyes continued to grow and his team was complaining that he had trouble concentrating. So far no case had been jeopardized, but still it did not bode well.

They had managed to get past the "night of passion." Lisa still thought about it on a regular basis, but she knew it was just a one night event. She doubted that House ever thought about it. Wilson had told her that he had hooked up with a twenty-five year old and was having mindless sex whenever he wanted it.

Wilson was worried too, he had met Shelly and he was not impressed. She was gorgeous, but there was something so superficial about her that he thought she would crack if she was left out in the sun. House didn't seem to care, so why should he?

House was picking up Shelly for a sleep over. He was spending most of his weekends with her. At first he would take her home after the evening was over. But then she started spending the night. After awhile, she didn't go home during the weekends. House kept her around because she was the equivalent to "white noise." She helped mask the emptiness he was feeling.

Shelly realized that sometime during the night he would get up and go watch television. He wasn't sleeping, even after marathon sex. She thought, if she could help him sleep, he'd be even more grateful for her services and want to keep her around. She liked being around, it was better than the pit she grew up in. She liked House, he took her out to nice places. It was nice to be with a doctor, people seemed to treat him with a lot of respect.

"We double dated and she just kept talking about nonsense. We humored her, I think we talked about Brad and Angelina, Megadeath, the movie "Jackass" and you know, fairly trivial things. I mentioned, "From Here to Eternity" and she asked if that was the new Colin Ferrell movie. I was embarrassed for her, for House too. But he just laughed. I don't think she understood why he was laughing. Lisa, I don't know why he is with her."

"Give me a break, I can give you two reasons and I'm sure she paid a good price for them." Lisa said.

"It's just that she is spending a lot of time over there. And..." Wilson went quiet.

"AND???" Lisa prodded.

"I saw her wearing the earrings that House had given Jordan. The diamond earrings. I didn't have the heart to ask if he had given them to her. I didn't want him to hear the answer." Wilson muttered.

"Oh crap. He better not have given those to her. Legally, they're Newt's. House gave them to Danny and, since they weren't married, they should go to her only heir, Newt."

"Well, like I said, I don't know."

It was one in the morning. Newt was safe asleep in his crib, Shelly was asleep in House's bed and House was watching a rerun of Saturday Night Live in the media room. The dreams about Jordan were getting worse and even more real. It was getting harder to get back to sleep after the dreams. He was drinking a lot of whiskey during the middle of the night to get back to sleep but it just made him groggy in the mornings. House thought about Shelly, she was innocuous. She didn't have an original or intelligent thought that House had observed. But she could carry on a conversation about current events and she looked good sitting across the table. Plus, he couldn't deny that he enjoyed the sexual release she provided even though the sex was mediocre at best. She never wanted satisfaction herself and always feigned an orgasm, which amused him more than anything else. Still, it was a release.

SHELLY SPEWS

My stepfather never stuck around after sex. He'd sneak in, pound away and then without so much as a, "thanks," he was gone. Most of my boyfriends fell asleep after sex, so I don't understand why Greg wants to, well, he wants me to have an orgasm. They say that orgasms are great, but I think having an orgasm means that you give away some of your power. Men are slaves to orgasms, I don't want to be a slave. I want to be a master. She who controls the sex, controls the middle aged male. And middle aged men have the money, the houses, the careers. You get it. Greg House has all of that and more. Young guys are used to hot young bodies. Middle aged men lust after them. But sometimes I can't read Greg. I know he likes sex, but sometimes he seems distant when we're in bed and then I have to do something to get his attention. He likes to have his earlobes sucked (as well as other things,) now that gets his attention.

I want to have nice things, I deserve them, I've done without all my life. I've had to sleep with a lot of frogs to get here. I want the car, the fancy dresses, the fine wine, the maid, I want it all and Greg House can give it to me. I once found a pair of diamond earrings in his nightstand drawer while he was taking a shower. My God they were gorgeous. I thought that they might be for me for our three month anniversary. So I laid down nude on the bed with just the earrings on. When he got out of the shower he went ballistic. "You silly cow. Are you a moron? Who said you could touch those..." His face scrunched up and I was pretty sure he was going to strike me. He was really angry. I started to cry my best tears. I told him that I had never had nice things and I just wanted to wear them for a little while. He calmed down and after some fancy footwork on my part, he agreed to let me wear them to dinner. We had dinner with his friend, James. I don't like this guy because I can tell he doesn't like me. He talks too much about Jordan... "DANNY"... and some woman named Lisa. Now I can handle Danny, she's dead. But Lisa? What has she got to do with the price of bread? I'm going to get those earrings. Greg's going to give them to me someday.

His kid is rich. Stinking rich and apparently this Lisa controls the money. There has to be a way that Greg can get his hands on it. I mean, he is the Dad. I'm not happy that he has a kid, even though the kid is cute. But still, I'm 26. Who wants to be saddled with a kid at 26, even a rich kid? Greg dotes on him, plays with him, and spends more time with him than with me. I don't think that's fair, do you? I am his guest, he should be paying attention to me. I know that the kid comes with the Dad, so I figure I've got to be nice to the kid, or at least tolerate him. Apparently, the kid has some relationship to this smart guy in England. The guy must be pretty important because even Greg listens to him and Greg doesn't tolerate many people. Greg says that the guy is famous and that his son was named after him. But I don't recognize his name, Stephen Hawkings? Must not be that famous if he hasn't been in People.

I'll let you in for a little secret, whenever Greg leaves me alone with the little rugrat, I just ignore him. If he cries, I turn up my IPOD. If he gets into something, I just keep watching television. He's not my responsibility. No one ever cared about me when I was his age. And I grew up ok. Oh, when Greg pulls into the driveway or walks in, I always pick the kid up and pretend we've been together the whole time, but then, I am a good actress.

House was surprised when Shelly told him it was their six month anniversary coming up that weekend. He thought it was pathetic that she counted the months that they were together. It just said how young she was. She seemed to think she was entitled to something. House felt guilty for using her as a distraction. He was still having the bad dreams, but at least the sex was a release for the tension he felt all the time. He had a dozen roses delivered to her apartment and he bought her a pair of earrings. A nice pair of small rope hoops made out of 18KT gold.

"I love the roses and the earrings are really nice. Maybe on our one year anniversary you'll let me have the ones in the drawer."

House just laughed to himself, "Cheeky devil."

They went out for a nice dinner and came back so that the babysitter could get home. After House got Newt to bed, he had sex and then fell asleep.

Shelly woke up, it was 1:30 a.m. and House was missing again. She grabbed his t-shirt off the floor and put it on. She joined him on the sofa and he put his arm around her shoulders. "You know, I can help you sleep."

'More sex?" he smiled.

"No, I have something in my purse, something I take when I can't sleep."

"I'm a doctor, I can get Ambian or Lunestra if I needed it." He smiled.

"But this is a drug that makes you feel real good while you slip into sleep...I get it from a friend."

"What is the drug?"

"A very weak form of GHB."

"Oh...GHB...a date rape drug. You know, if you want I'll let you rape me without it."

" I said a weak GHB." She grabbed her purse and pulled out a vial of a lavender liquid. "Give me your water and I'll pour a little in...just try it."

House hesitated, but then the thought of having to wake up in a few hours without sleep and deal with Newt was overwhelming. He just wanted one good night's sleep. He handed her his glass. "Just a little." He told her.

She only poured a little into the water. He drank the glass down. At first he felt nothing, then he felt a euphoria, then an inebriation. After fifteen minutes he was starting to fall asleep. He barely made it to his bed and he was out.

It was 9:30 a.m. and Theresa was standing over House's bed trying to wake him up. She couldn't get him or the naked woman next to him to wake up. Theresa was late for her Saturday class. She had come into the house to grab her biology textbook when she heard Newt. Newt was screaming, hungry, wet and very unhappy. If Theresa had not come in to grab her textbook, Newt would still be trying to get someone's attention. Theresa gathered up Newt, his clothes, some food and left.

House eventually woke up at noon. He looked at the clock and bolted straight up. "Sh!t, Newt." He hobbled as fast as he could into his son's room. No sign of Newt. House was frantic. Where was he? House ran through each room trying to find him. What had he done? Christ. He phoned Theresa but it went to her voice mail. He left her a message. House threw on some levis and then grabbed his cane and made his way out front. He went upstairs and knocked on Theresa's studio door but she wasn't there. Her car was gone. House didn't think to check his own answering machine. Theresa had left him a message.

House knew he had to call the police but then he would have to explain why he had been asleep and how someone could take his son without him knowing it. Just as he started to go back into the house, Lisa pulled up. In the back seat was Newt. House grabbed the back passenger door and yanked it open. He grabbed his son out of the car seat and turned to Lisa.

"What the f#3k are you doing with my son?" House was yelling at the top of his lungs.

"How dare you yell at me. You stupid jerk, you're lucky the police aren't here arresting you for child endangerment. What, the hell were YOU thinking? And what were you on?"

House's face collapsed... she was right. Lisa was right. What the hell had he done, what was he doing, what was he thinking? They went into the house.

Lisa was calm. "Theresa shows up at my doorstep at 10 a.m. this morning and tells me that she can't wake you or that girl you're sleeping with...Newt is hungry, wet, miserable and crying his heart out. Thank God she just happened to forget her textbook in the kitchen or Newt would probably still be crying for you. She had a class today so she brought him over to my house. Greg, what were you doing? What were you thinking?"

House was sitting on his couch with his head in his hands. "I was tired, I barely get through the days, I'm so tired. I can't sleep, the dreams are getting worse. I wake up every night and it takes longer and longer to get back to sleep. Last night Shelly offered me something and I took it. It had a bigger effect on me than I thought it would."

"She gave you drugs and you took it with Newt here in the house?"

"Yes..yes...I know, bad judgment. But I was desperate. I've been so sleep deprived that I don't know what to do. Lisa, it won't happen again."

"Oh, Greg, that doesn't even cut it. You know that. This woman gives you street drugs, she doesn't even consider that you have a young child in the house and YOU take them without thinking about your child? You need help..." As she said this, Shelly walked in wearing House's t-shirt. Lisa looked at her.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Shelly asked. "I'm Shelly." She said to Lisa.

"Well, Shelly, I'm Lisa and I'm just about ready to become your worst nightmare. Are you crazy? Did the aliens forget to remove the anal probe? What was your plan? Find a vulnerable man who's just lost the mother of his son and then get your claws into him? I can't think of anything more immature than giving someone who is responsible for a young child, drugs. Except of course taking them if you are responsible for a child." She glared at House. She turned back to Shelly, "Honey, you don't fool me, I deal with scam artists all the time and sister, you are an amateur..." Lisa was on a roll.

"Who the hell do you think you are treating me like this?" Shelly was interrupted.

"OK, I'll try to being nicer if you try to being smarter. Get your clothes on, tuck in those phoney boobs and get your tight ss out of here. You make me sick, you're a leach, a carbuncle. You're a stupid cow. I bet your parents are siblings. I want you out of here and don't come back. I'll have the police on your butt so fast if I see you within a mile of this man." As she was saying this, Lisa was chasing Shelly down the hall. Shelly grabbed her clothes and put them on. Lisa wouldn't leave her alone. She was going to make sure this one was gone.

As Shelly went through the living room, she said, "Greg, are you going to let her treat me this way?"

House was both embarrassed and amused by what was happening. He was about to say something but Lisa opened the door for Shelly, " Come on, if I throw a stick, will you leave? Good bye." Shelly was out the door.

"Lisa..." House said.

"WHAT?" she turned around to face him.

"I'm her ride." He said sheepishly.

"Oh." Lisa opened the door but Shelly was nowhere to be found. "I guess she found a ride because she's gone."

They broke down laughing and then Lisa's shook her sadly. "House, I want you to give me custody of Newt for the next few months and you go get some help."

"You're joking. I'll be ok, I'm making some progress."

"A hard on doesn't count as personal growth. If you don't agree to it, then I'm going to go into court and get it myself. You have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's not going to go away on its own. I've called a good friend who has a clinic in Santa Fe, New Mexico. You're booked to go in on Monday. It's a month program with outpatient treatment here in Plainsboro. I have you already booked on a plane. Your alternative is that you will probably lose your son and possibly your job. I didn't want to do this, but Newt needs you functioning like an adult; he needs **YOU** back; the hospital and your team needs you back; and, I need you back."

'I'm not into pop psychology."

She sat down on the couch next to him, "You know this isn't pop psychology, PTSD is well documented and you have classic signs. They can get control of your dreams. They use 'Imagery Rehearsal Therapy'. It does not involve the use of medications. The treatment involves helping you change the ending of your nightmares while you are awake, so that the ending is no longer upsetting. You rehearse the new, nonthreatening images associated with the changed dream. Imagery Rehearsal Therapy helps with problems associated with nightmares, such as insomnia. They'll teach you basic strategies that may help them to improve the quality of your sleep."

"Right, I'm going to imagine that the plane didn't explode and Jordan's just been sitting on her ss on Maui?"

"No, but you could imagine that she was surrounded with other passengers, that your son is safe, that the two of you survive. I don't know, I'm sure they'll provide the appropriate happy ending. Anyway, I am not giving you an option. I love that baby too much. I'm not going to let you screw around with his future. So let's get you packed."

House was too weary to resist. He followed her into his bedroom. She looked at the messy bed and was a little embarrassed by what it implied. He got down a suitcase.

"You're going to need a larger one, you are going to be gone for a month."

House pulled out a second one that was slightly larger. Lisa unzipped it and looked at him. "Lisa, I don't know what I to say about all of this."

"Don't say anything, someday we'll look back on this and change the subject. For now, let's just get you to Santa Fe."

House was gone two hours when Shelly showed up at Lisa's office. She didn't like the looks of this.

Shelly looked around the office and thought, so this is where that uptight bith works. It sure looks like her, stuffy and varnished. She wondered what Cuddy did with Greg. He wasn't answering his phone and he wasn't home the times she went by his house. The nanny over the studio was talking to her. Well, if she thinks that she's going to just walk away, she's kidding herself.

Lisa was just getting back from the child development day care after having lunch with Newt. She was enjoying the time she had with him. Theresa was watching him until she could get home, which was often after 7:00 p.m. Because she got home so late, it meant that she would only get about an hour with him before Newt went to sleep. So Lisa had decided to spend her lunch hour going over to the C.D. daycare to have lunch with him. He was always happy to see her, "Cuddy, look car! See car? Car go fast." He was excited, showing her the new Tonka car she gave him. She laughed and got down on the floor, took off her Jimmy Choos and played cars and trucks with him while they munched on sandwiches and vegetables.

Newt was now 22 months and just adorable. His brown hair was curly and wispy on top of his head. He had the long face of House and of course there was no mistaking where he got his eyes. He also had his dad's long, beautiful fingers. She did notice he had his mother's generous smile. She shuddered when she thought of him growing up. He was going to be gorgeous and he was going to be brilliant and he was going to be personable. She just hoped he didn't have a 666 marked somewhere in his scalp or they would all be in trouble.

"What do YOU want?" Lisa asked and then headed for her chair behind her desk to establish territory.

"What I deserve."

"Well, I'm afraid I'm not wearing my boots today or I'd give you the boot up your ss that you deserve."

"Fine, then I'll just have to make my phone call. Of course this will mean that Greg House will go down in flames and that little boy won't have a daddy while he's in prison, but hey, you can take consolation in the fact that you were funny." She turned to leave.

Cuddy shook her head and said, "What...what is it you want."

"I want money and I want those earrings."

"What are you talking about?"

"I want $100,000 and I want those diamond earrings, the ones that House has in his bedroom drawer."

"Why would anyone give you money and the earrings?" Lisa was looking perplexed.

"I have a friend on the police force. He says House is walking a thin line when it comes to the law and that everyone on the force is gunning for him. I don't know what he did to piss them off, but they all want a piece of him. I know for a fact that there is a vial of GBH in Greg's house, a very large vial, a dealer's size vial. I just have to make one phone call to my friend and his house gets searched as soon as they can get a search warrant. He says that with me as a witness to Greg's massive drug and alcohol abuse, he should get the warrant in an hour. Of course, I stopped seeing Greg because he drugged me with GBH. I wouldn't do some disgusting perverted sex acts so he drugged me. It will be my word against his. And it doesn't look good for a 49 year old man having sex with a 26 year old girl less than three months after the mother of his son died in a tragic terrorist attack. He's going to look a little cold and slimy." Shelly gave her a little smirk.

Lisa's heart sank and she started to feel sick. "I see, you go away if House gives you $100,000 and the earrings."

"No, I go away if YOU give me the $100,000 and the earrings. If we don't seal the deal right now, I know you are going to go over to the house and turn it upside down to find the GBH. Without that GBH my story doesn't hold water. So I don't have the luxury of time. You have to give me the money now and we go together to get the earrings or I make the call."

"Are you crazy? I don't have $100,000 just sitting around." Lisa was annoyed.

"No, but Greg's son does and you have the checkbook to his account."

Lisa realized she was in a no win situation. If she didn't pay her off, House would probably go to jail or to prison, lose Newt and his career. On the other hand, if Lisa wrote the check, she was going to have to account to the court for $100,000 being paid to this woman for nothing...it would probably mean that Lisa would be charged with breach of fiduciary duty and embezzlement. She would probably get probation, but she would lose her job and her career."

"Well, how much does Greg House mean to you?" Shelly was enjoying this.

Lisa was visibly sweating. She was trying to figure a way out of all of this, but she couldn't see one. The lives of the two people she loved the most were in her hands. For a brief moment she considered what she had just said to herself. The two people she LOVED the most. Well, she had finally admitted it to herself.

"I don't have the checkbook here. We have to go to my house to get it."

'Oh no, we go to the bank and you get me a cashier's check right now."

Lisa thought about it.

They arrived at the bank and Lisa arranged the cashier's check to be made out to Shelly Dawson for $100,000 our of Newt's account. On the way over, Lisa discovered that Shelly only knew about the $250,000 Newt had received a for being a surviving passenger. Luckily for Lisa, Shelly was ignorant. She thought $250,000 made Newt stinking rich.

Once the check was in her purse, she told Lisa to drive to Greg's house for the earrings and she would follow in her car. They arrived and she told Lisa to unlock the door and wait in her car. She came out of the house with a black box, laughed as she waved it at Lisa, jumped into her car and she was gone.

Lisa was so angry she was shaking violently. She got out of the car and went into the house. Sitting on the coffee table was a vial of lavender liquid which Lisa suspected was the GBH. She took it into the kitchen, washed it down the sink, swirled chlorine in the vial, poured it in the sink and then threw the vial in the outside trash can. She went through the rest of the house to make sure there wasn't more. She sat down on the couch and started to cry.

House was lounging outside the clinic on a hammock reading a Dick Francis novel and thinking about Cuddy. It had been two weeks and she hadn't called. He called Cuddy's house and Theresa had answered. He spoke with Newt who made some noise about, "Batman fly fast. Car go fast. Daddy home."

"Daddy will be home in a few more days. Cuddy will take care of you. I love you beer gut. Be good, go play with Batman." House was smiling, but then he repeated it again just because it felt good, " Newt, I love you. Be good. Bye Bye."

Newt said bye, bye back and then Theresa took the phone. She told House that Newt was well, that Cuddy was spending a lot of time with him and that Newt asked for him every day. They said goodbye and House went back to his book.

House's doctor, Dr. Drew Jackson, knew that House was going to be difficult to treat. Not just because House had a reputation for being troublesome, but because House was bright and skeptical about PTSD and the treatment. Dr. Jackson knew he had to provide House empirical data or he wouldn't put anything in to the therapy.

"Greg, I called you in to talk to you about our diagnosis and to explain the illness. People with PTSD tend to have abnormal levels of key hormones involved in response to stress. When people are in danger, they produce high levels of natural opiates, which can temporarily mask pain. Scientists have found that people with PTSD continue to produce those higher levels even after the danger has passed; this may lead to the blunted emotions associated with the condition.

Some studies have shown that cortisol levels are lower than normal and epinephrine and norepinephrine are higher than normal. As you know, Norepinephrine is a neurotransmitter released during stress, and one of its functions is to activate the hippocampus, the brain structure involved with organizing and storing information for long-term memory.

This action of norepinephrine is thought to be one reason why people generally can remember emotionally arousing events better than other situations. Under the extreme stress of trauma, norepinephrine may act longer or more intensely on the hippocampus, leading to the formation of abnormally strong memories that are then experienced as flashbacks or intrusions. Since cortisol normally limits norepinephrine activation, low cortisol levels may represent a significant risk factor for developing PTSD.

So you see, your body has experienced an incredible biochemical change that has triggered your flashbacks and nightmares. We need to deal with these changes and the best way is a combination of medication, psychotherapy, imagery and a new treatment, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing or EMDR. Now, I know you think this is hocus pocus and you want a pill to fix you or some other quick fix, but it doesn't work that way. "

"What is EMDR?" House was curious which was a good sign.

"Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a specialized form of psychotherapy that is used almost exclusively for treating PTSD. Stimulated rapid eye movement may help in the psychological processing of trauma. It is thought that the day's events and our reactions to them are processed during REM sleep . In a controlled EMDR session, moving light is used to induce rapid eye movement.

House asked him, "How does it work?"

"The first phase is a history taking session where we identify possible targets for EMDR processing. These include distressing events that elicit emotional disturbances, related historical incidents, and the development of skills and behaviors that will be needed by you in future situations.

During the second phase of treatment, I'll make sure that you have adequate methods of handling emotional distress and good coping skills.

In phase three through six, an event is identified and processed using EMDR procedures. You'll identify the most vivid visual image related to the memory such as the plane explosion, a negative belief about self such as, "I can't protect my loved ones", related emotions and body sensations, such as worthlessness, sadness, stomach cramps, insomnia. You'll then identify a preferred positive belief. The validity of the positive belief is rated, as is the intensity of the negative emotions.

After this, you'll be instructed to focus on the image, negative thought, and body sensations while simultaneously moving your eyes back and forth following the my fingers as they move across your field of vision for 20-30 seconds or more, depending upon your needs.

Athough eye movements are the most commonly used external stimulus, I may use auditory tones, tapping, or other types of tactile stimulation.You will be instructed to just notice whatever happens. After this, I'll instruct you to let your mind go blank and to notice whatever thought, feeling, image, memory, or sensation comes to mind. This is repeated numerous times throughout the session. When you report no distress related to the memory, I'll ask you to think of the preferred positive belief that was identified at the beginning of the session and to focus on the incident, while simultaneously engaging in the eye movements. After several sets, you should report increased confidence in this positive belief.

In phase seven, you'll be asked to keep a journal during the week to document any related material that may arise and reminds you of the self-calming activities that were mastered in phase two. The next session begins with phase eight, re-evaluation of the previous work, and of progress since the previous session."

"And then the Thetans will leave my body...:" House waved his hand as if it were a space ship.

"Greg, give it a chance, this can work. But don't go into thinking it's voodoo or it won't work. You know, Lisa Cuddy got you into this clinic, we have a waiting list that includes people with serious money and serious problems, if you don't want to be here, tell me now." He looked at him sternly as if he was expecting an answer.

House looked down, feeling guilty that he wasn't giving this a chance after all that Cuddy had done for him. "I'm in."

When asked for his history and negative stressors, House identified his leg, the time he was shot and the plane explosion as the negative incidents he needed to deal with. He realized after several sessions that he was relieved just to have identified that these three incidents had shaped his life for so long. He also realized that he felt powerless in each situation, unable to protect himself or his loved ones from what was happening. He was angry. Angry about the failure to identify the clot, failure to protect him from the shooter and angry at the terrorists who murdered Jordan. He was also, and he even felt silly about this, was feeling abandoned by Stacy and Jordan as a result of what had happened.

He wasn't sure why the rapid eye movement worked but after several weeks, he was noticing that he could occasionally sleep through the night without waking. He was not only sleeping through the night but he was sleeping in and having trouble waking up. That was good because he was catching up on a lot of sleep.

House was gaining a little weight back. At night he and some of the other patients, including a New York Police Sargeant who had lived through 9/11, went into town and ate some great Mexican food. They would play pool and have a few beers before driving back to the clinic which was five miles out of town. House enjoyed the policeman, Tom, because he was sarcastic and cynical, a lot like House. The bantering between the two of them entertained both the patients and the staff. When the two had group therapy, the therapist typically had to end the session early because it was useless to continue with all the laughing that was taking place.

House was finally relaxing and almost dreading going back to Princeton. But he missed Newt and he would be glad to see Cuddy, Wilson and his team. When the month was over, Dr. Jackson gave him the name and address of the therapist that would continue his treatment in Plainsboro. Tom slapped House on the back as he was getting into the cab and House nodded back. House knew he'd probably never see Tom again, but still he had enjoyed his company.

"He comes home tomorrow. I don't know how to tell him and I still don't know what to do." Lisa was sitting on her couch in her office. Wilson was in the chair.

"Well, we have to tell him the truth. He's responsible for all of this, he should know what he has done to you."

"He didn't do it, Shelly did...and I did. House wouldn't have let me do it if he had been here. But I couldn't let him go to jail, could I?" Lisa was almost in tears again.

"Cuddy, I think it's admirable what you did, knowing how it could come back to bite you, but you have to stop beating yourself up. House is smart, maybe he can figure a way out of this. Any news about where she went?" Wilson was curious.

"The P.I. said that she took off for Philadelphia. He has an address, but what do I do with it? I'd like to send in the goon squad and take her out, but I can't,"

"How's Newt?" Wilson asked to change the subject.

"Smart. Quick. Hard to catch up with when he takes off and he's been doing that a lot lately. I think he gets a perverse pleasure out of watching me try to run in high heels. I've started wearing flats just so I can catch up. But he is adorable. His grandparents called last night, I think they are going to come out in March for his birthday."

House got off the plane and Cuddy was happy to see that he had put on a little weight. He walked over to her and bent down to pick up Newt who was holding his arms up to his Dad. "Hey Beer Gut, what's up? Did you miss your Dad?" House was blowing on Newt's tummy.

"Daddy come here. Batman fly house. Cuddy car fast." He was blabbering fast and furious as both Cuddy and House tried to figure out what this 23 month old was saying.

House shook his head as if to say, "I haven't got a clue" and then he turned to Cuddy, "It's cold here. It was nice and mild in Santa Fe, at least during the day. The nights were brisk. How are you doing? You don't look so hot. Has Newt been a problem?"

Cuddy wanted to hug him hello but decided against it. House looked a lot better, he was alert, the bags were gone and he looked healthy. "I've had a lot on my mind. Newt's a handful right now but he's not the problem. He's been his sweet self. He's putting a lot of words together now and he is drawing shapes like a five year old. They say he has mastered his numbers up to 100...he understands the concept at least. And what Altain is most excited about is that he can subtract. How they know this, I don't know. I haven't had time to sit down with him and discuss it. Maybe you could." Cuddy and House were walking to get the luggage.

When they got to House's home they unloaded the luggage and went inside out of the cold. House was grateful to find that the house had been cleaned. When he went to put Newt down for his nap he was surprised to find that Newt's room was decorated. It had a science fiction motif. One wall had a view of traveling through stars with Einstein's formula for relativity painted across it several times. It also had black holes with several of Hawkings and Jordan's formulas. It was quite clever. The rest of the room had funny looking aliens and starships. Newt had been escaping from his crib for several months so House had switched him into a toddler's bed. His comforter was a Star Trek scene and the original Star Trek crew was painted on the wall, standing over Newt's bed with phasers drawn, ready to protect him. House smiled, it was all very cool.

Cuddy was behind him. "This is great, I was meaning to do something with his room. I just didn't have the energy." House turned to her and smiled briefly.

"Well, I'm sending you the bill."

"Fine."

House took his suitcase into the bedroom and unzipped it. He grabbed a box and took it into the kitchen where Cuddy was making coffee. "This is for you."

Cuddy was embarrassed. She hadn't expected anything. She opened the plastic bag and reached in to find a jewelry box. When she opened it there was a beautiful turquoise necklace and earrings set staring back at her. It wasn't excessively large or chunky like a lot of turquoise jewelry, but exquisitely crafted with several very select stones. She knew that this was not a cheap set and it made her feel appreciated.

"Oh, House, it's lovely. You really shouldn't have. This is really gorgeous." Impulsively she reached up and pecked him on the cheek. He looked at her and then grabbed his coffee and headed for the living room.

They sat back down on the couch and Cuddy asked about the therapy. House begrudgingly admitted that it was the rapid eye movement therapy that had given him the most relief. He told her who his follow up doctor would be and that he had an appointment already set up. Then he looked her in the eye and said, "What happened? I can tell that you are very upset."

"The day you left, Shelly came into my office and blackmailed me."

House's eyes grew big and intense. "What do you mean?"

Cuddy explained the entire story to House, including the fact that she was probably going to get arrested for the money she withdrew from Newt's trust fund. "I'm so sorry about the earrings. I feet sick about them. How much did you pay for them?"

"$18.00"

"What?" Lisa thought House must have meant $18,000.

"$18.00." House repeated. "After that night when she took them out of my drawer without my permission and insisted on wearing them, I went and bought some phoney ones and replaced them. I figured that if she ever insisted on wearing them again, I could let her and not feel like I was dishonoring Jordan. The real ones are in my safety deposit box at the bank."

Lisa started laughing and crying with relief all at the same time. House put down his coffee and hugged her. "Now, we have to figure out how to replace the $100,000 and get you off the hook. The money isn't a problem, I have that in stocks and mutual funds. It's just getting around the check that was written. The court's going to want an explanation next month when Newt turns two and you have to account for the money."

Cuddy enjoyed having House's arms around her. He was one of the most screwed up guys on the planet, but she felt safe in his arms. She felt calm.

"I'm sorry that she put you through this. And I can't begin to thank you for what you did for me, and for Newt. You put your entire reputation on the line. Don't worry, if I have to go to jail for this, I will. I'm not going to let you take the fall."

"Thanks, but I don't see how I'm going to get out of it. I'm curious, how much did you pay for the real earrings?"

"Well the brilliancy is 160, sparkle 60, intensity 300. Their weight is 1.2 carat each. They are flawless and colorless. They were the best I could find at the time. I got them wholesale for $29,500."

Lisa swallowed hard. She had thought they were worth half that. She was ecstatic now that she knew the earrings were safe.

Within 48 hours House had deposited $105,000 into Newt's trust fund. He added the $5,000 to make up for any interest lost during the month. Now it was time to address the Shelly problem.

Bill Arnnelo was a very busy man, but he owed him a lot. This had to be done with care so that it didn't come back to bite either of them.

Fredo Palumbo knocked on the door. The apartment was in a nice neighborhood, not like his apartment in South Philly, the Italian district. She opened the door. Man, was she a knockout. He wanted to do things to her that would make her squeal. He shook the thought and focused on his task. She had been one of his best customers in Trenton, but now Arnnelo had called in a favor.

"Well, where is it?" She asked.

"What are you gonna do with $100,000 of pure crack?" he asked her.

"Turn it into $200,000, what did you think? Do you have it?" She asked again.

"Yeah, yeah, not so fast. I need to see the money."

She took out a sack and threw it at him. He looked in, picked up a wad at random and looked through it. It was all there. He waved to his friend in the car who got out with a small black bag about the size of a doctor's satchel. He handed it to Shelly. She looked inside and nodded in the affirmative to Fredo.

"Great, I'll call you in a few weeks to buy more. Bye." Shelly closed the door in Fredo's face. Fredo just smiled and took out his cell phone. He dialed the number.

Detective Bellinghere was waiting for the call. He answered his phone and heard a voice say, "It's on." He went into action. His partner, Detective Danson drove him to the apartment with the warrant. They jumped out of the car and Bellinghere told Danson to go cover the back door just in case she tried to run. Danson did as he was told. Bellinghere had ten years seniority on him.

Bellinghere knocked on the door. Shelly answered it. He flashed his badge, "Police, I have a warrant to search your apartment." Shelly went white and tried to slam the door shut but Bellinghere already had his foot in to prevent it from closing. He immediately grabbed and handcuffed her and threw her down on the couch. He saw the crack on the table and quickly took out a baggy and placed just over 1/4 of it in the baggy and then put the remainder of the crack in the original bag. He grabbed the black bag and immediately ran out the front door. He looked around and saw Fredo. He threw the bag down the stairs to him and then went back inside. He went to the back window and yelled out to Dawson, "It's clear, it's just her. You can come on in."

When Dawson got in, he saw the crack on the table. He didn't realize it was only a fraction of what it was a few minutes ago, but still the crack that was left, the scales and the other items were enough to collar Shelly for dealing. She'd probably get 7-15 years and serve 5 if she behaved. Shelly didn't catch on to what Bellinghere had done. She thought he had taken the balance of the crack out to another waiting cop for evidence collection. Not the brightest tool in the tool shed.

Within a week, House received a money order for $9,000. Over the next 9 days he received a money order each day for the same amount. Since the IRS had to be notified of any transactions over $10,000, the money orders fell below the radar.

House thought, "I hope he was able to take care of Lisa."

The accounting forms were easy, there was only the one withdrawal and that was for the $100,000. Lisa had put it down and when the form asked for an explanation of the transaction, she simply put, "services rendered." Of course the probate examiner flagged the paperwork for the judge, but what the examiner didn't know was that the judge had a thing for the ponies. He was in pretty deep with the Arnello family. The examiner found it strange that Judge Plotkin had asked for this case, but then judges are funny animals. Plotkin sat on the bench the day Lisa and House went to court for the hearing on the accounting.

"Everything looks in order. You need to appear next year on March 16th and give another accounting." And the gavel came down.

Lisa's mouth dropped and she turned to House who signaled for her to get her shocked butt out of there. "I don't understand." she said.

"Let's just say I traded in a corvette for your sweet ss." He smiled.

Lisa didn't get it. But she did get the hell out of court "while the gettin' was good."

Now and again he would have a bad night. But most nights he was sleeping through. He liked his therapist in Plainsboro, she was in her fifties and she was no-nonsense. He liked her lack of pretense. She did her job and shooed him out.

At work Cameron, Chase and Foreman were happy to see that House was doing better. Foreman had just accepted a position with UCLA in the neurology department. He was anxious to get back to California. He hated the cold winters and was looking forward to sunny days year round.

Chase had also accepted a position at Addenbrooks hospital in Cambridge, England. He was going to head their emergency department, something he looked forward to doing. His position didn't start for another four months.

Cameron was staying on at Princeton-Plainsboro in the diagnostic department as staff. She was culling through applications to fill the three Fellowships that were becoming vacant. House couldn't be bothered with it. He told her to pare it down to a dozen and then he would look at them.

Lisa offered to help House decorate and furnish the home. He took her up on the offer.

"You need a new bed, yours is pretty lumpy."

"Yeah, it's seen a lot of action." He said as he sucked on his Icee. They were at White Lotus Home, a furniture store on Nassau st. in Princeton. House started to try out beds. He plopped himself on one after another. "Ah, this is a good one, try it out."

House was prostrate on the left side of them bed. Lisa laid down on the right. "Ok, it's firm, that's for sure. Do you like your bed this firm?"

"Or firmer." He spread his legs out and his arms. His hand came in contact with Cuddy's. He quickly turned his head to look at her. He smiled and pulled his hand back. Cuddy shivered but House didn't notice. He bought the bed and Cuddy insisted that he buy proper sheets. "$300 for a set of sheets? They better do something special for me at that price, like give me a blow job."

"House, you don't get 650 threads per inch without paying good money. You'll enjoy the sheets. Ok, you need two sets." She said as she pulled a set of beige and a set of blue Egyptian cotton sheets out of the shelf.

"Ouch." He said back.

They purchased window coverings that would take a month to make and install. Cuddy also talked House into purchasing a new bedroom set for himself. "You can move the one that you have into the guest room."

After two days of shopping, House was shopped out. He gave Cuddy carte blanche to go out and buy whatever she thought he needed and he would reimburse her. Lisa was a happy camper. She loved to decorate. She also wanted to get Newt some new clothes. House kept sending him to daycare in the same three outfits over and over. They were stained and frayed.

Lisa had just gotten done with a day of shopping when she walked into Greg's house. There on the floor was House rolled up in a ball with Newt pummeling him. It was a male thing. House was yelling in an exaggerated voice, "Owww, owww, owww, noooo...have mercy." Newt was giggling and pummeling.

House looked up at her from the floor. Looking down at the now prostrate Gregory House, Lisa felt a flash of sexual desire go through her. It must have showed because House cocked his head to the side and gave her one of his famous sideways glances and a sly smile without saying anything.

"We need to plan Newt's birthday party. Is Blythe coming for his birthday?"

"I bought her ticket yesterday."

"What about your Dad?" she asked.

"He's got a military reunion to go to in Hawaii. He wanted to come but he is the treasurer of their group and he needs to go. Don't we just have some cake and ice cream and everyone stand around and sing 'Happy Birthday?'"

"No. We have to get out invitations to his daycare friends and then decide what the theme of the party will be."

"You are joking, right?"

"House, these days a kid gets a birthday party every year until they have kids of their own." Lisa paused and looked at him. He was still laying on the floor looking up at her, "I think an Indiana Jones theme will be fun. We can hire one of those guys who brings zoo animals for the kids to look at and pet. And we'll have to have drink and food for the adults."

"This is crazy, for a two year old?"

She laughed. "I don't expect you to understand. Now, do you own a video camera?"

Blythe arrived two days before Newt's birthday and was in heaven. "He's gotten so big and he talks so much!!! I love his hair, it's just like yours when you were his age. And those cheeks, they just beg to be kissed." The whole time she was talking she was prodding and kissing Newt.

The invitations were out. Several of the daycare kids were coming. Some of the parents accepted the invitation because they just wanted to say that their kid went to the birthday party of Stephen Hawking's godson. Stephen himself sent Newt a child's microscope and bug catching equipment. He also sent him the European version of tinker toys.

It was Friday night. Blythe and House were finishing stacking the dishes in the dishwasher when Lisa walked in. House had given Cuddy a key before he left for Santa Fe and had never asked for it back. He was used to her walking in and out of the house without knocking. Of course, there was the one time when she walked in while he was standing naked in the laundry room putting the washed clothes, including the desperately needed boxer shorts, into the dryer. When he walked out through the living room, there she was standing with the newspaper in her hand. Her eyes went immediately to his package and then up to his eyes.

"Well?" He asked as if she might have a comment to make.

"I see you're still not circumcised." She said nonchalantly.

"Sorry, too busy to get around to it." he said with an air of, "what the hell is this all about?"

"Why aren't you and Newt circumcised?" She asked as if she were in a science class.

House didn't move or try to cover up, "I was born off base in Italy. My mom didn't make it to the Navy hospital in time. Newt was born in England. Most European males aren't circumcised automatically. That's why, in the old days, you could tell the Jews from the Gentiles, Jews were circumcised. But now that America chops the foreskin off on a regular basis...they all look alike. I bet it's probably a Jewish conspiracy. Why do you ask? You're Jewish, does that mean that having sex with me isn't kosher?"

"Ha,ha, funny. I was just curious. You don't see too many un-circumcised men over here." She turned and walked into the kitchen and got a glass of water to cool herself down. House looked hot and she hadn't had any sex for several months. Lisa did find it odd. She was Jewish and, before sleeping with House, she had never been with a man who hadn't been circumcised.

"Hello Blythe, House. Where's the little tyrant?" Lisa asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"Down for a late nap. I couldn't get him to sleep this afternoon for the life of me. He has too much energy for one toddler." Blythe sounded tired.

"Tell me about it." Lisa said, looking down at her high heels.

"House I came to ask if you wanted to go to this party tomorrow. It's a Pancreatic Cancer benefit and they are going to have Bob James play. I know you like jazz."

"I like jazz, I hate charity."

"Come on Greg, Lisa is offering you a night out. I can watch Newt and you can go and be an adult for a few hours." Blythe liked Lisa and she was determined that he take her up on her offer.

"My God, a conspiracy of the she-monsters. What time, where and what's the dress code? "

"7:00 p.m., Springdale Golf Club, Cocktail. Pick me up at 6:45 p.m." Lisa smiled, turned around and went to check on Newt and then left.

"Greg, she is a real winner. And you two have something going on between you. I can tell."

"Mom, we've just known each other a long time. We're comfortable around each other."

"Yeah, and I'm Castro's beard." She laughed and went to the media room to watch 24.

House asked himself, "I never know what she means by that. But she is like a human polygraph. She reads people exceptionally well, which is where I must get it. Maybe she's right. Nah." and House joined his Mom.

Blythe was smiling to herself, when House came in and sat down to watch television with her. She reached over and grabbed his hand. They sat through the entire show that way.

House was late, but then so was Cuddy. She was having a hard time picking out the right cocktail dress. She finally ended up choosing a beige lace dress with a deep v plunging down to her waist. The dress was edged in a wide ribbon band of beige satin. With her black hair, she looked great. She heard his car and so she grabbed her velvet coat, her gloves and her purse. House opened the door. He was dressed in a Hugo Boss 'Einstein Sigma' Black Dinner Suit wtih a white cotton shirt and dark tie. She could tell that his mother had pulled his look together because he looked incredibly handsome. He handed her a bouquet of flowers. She was pleasantly surprised and rushed to put them in water. She wanted to ask if his mother had suggested them. But she knew that House would never have brought them if he hadn't wanted to do so.

They made it to the golf club and started to mingle before sitting down to enjoy the jazz. House knew several of the doctors, including Wilson who was at the event with one of the women from accounting. She was good looking and she appeared to either be Wilson's age or maybe even a few years older.

"I didn't know you were coming to this party?"

"Yes, I occasionally support the various charities." House retorted.

"Yeah, when I buy the ticket and Bob James is scheduled to play." Lisa and House sat next to Wilson and his date.

The concert was great, the food was good and it was an open bar. House was having a great time and so was Cuddy. The two couples were telling stories about their wild college days and laughing very hard. House was drinking one whiskey after another. Cuddy made him hand over his keys, which he did willingly.

When it was time to leave, Cuddy drove them to her house. House was tipsy but not falling down drunk. He followed her into the kitchen and she grabbed some coffee from the upper cabinet.

"I'm going to make us some coffee and we're going to sit down until either you are sober enough to drive, I drive you home or you stay here in the guest room." She was pouring the water into the coffee maker. "Well, how are you doing these days, sleeping well enough..." and then she turned around. "House, what are you doing?"

Greg House had already removed his tie, his shirt, his shoes and was starting on his belt. "I was just getting ready for bed."

"Well, ok, if you want to go to bed I understand. It has been a long day and we could both use a good night's sleep." She turned the coffee maker off and they walked out towards the hall. "Ok, you know where the guest room is, I'm off to my bedroom, good night."

House wandered down the hall to the guest room, sat down on the bed and looked around. Where was Lisa?

Lisa went to her room and got into her nightclothes. She crawled into bed and turned out the light...and then she felt the bed sink next to her. She turned on the light. House was laying next to her and staring up at the ceiling. "House, what are you doing?"

"I wanted to go to bed, not to sleep." He turned over and faced her with a very cute, sexy, alcohol induced smile. "Come on, you don't want to go to sleep either. Every time I am around you I think about that night we spent together in here. It's been a long time since that night and it's been a rough year. But you've helped me keep my family together, my little family...Newt and I. You've helped us in so many ways. This time, if you let me, I'd like to wake up next to you and not run away or push you away. It's time I move on and I think Jordan would be happy that I do it with someone who loves Newt so much."

"Greg, how do I know this isn't the whiskey talking?"

"Call my Mom, she says I have a thing for you."

Lisa chuckled. " Well you're mother is a perceptive person, but I'm a little gun shy about all of this. I don't know how we're going to work around the employer-employee thing. I do love your son, he's precious. And I've had feelings for you since college, but just because I have feelings it doesn't mean I should act on them."

"Ah, come on Cuddy, can't we just screw and then talk about this in the morning. I promise I won't run or say it was all a big mistake." He was putting his hand up her pajama top. House found her right breast and started to fondle it. He grabbed her and pulled her closer and kissed her deeply. She realized he was naked and she chuckled when she felt his excitement.

"Well, I guess it can wait until the morning."

Even though House had been tipsy, he had been great in bed. He made sure that she felt just as much pleasure from the sex as he did. He was assertive, knowing just what he wanted and how, but he was also gentle and generous at the same time. She had a wonderful night.

The next morning Cuddy woke up and went to get out of bed to make some coffee, but a hand reached across and grabbed her waist and pulled her back into bed. He climbed on top of her and they made love again. "Ok, now you can go make that coffee." House said.

While Cuddy was in the kitchen making coffee and getting some bagels out, House was in the bedroom calling his mother to check on Newt. "Mom, I'll be home in about an hour, are you ok with Newt?"

"Don't worry, Newt and I are fine and we're just getting ready for the party. You take your time." She said with a knowing grin.

Cuddy came back into the room, "Your Mom?"

"Yeah. She and Newt are ok. She doesn't seem to need me for awhile. So, I suspect this is where you say, 'We've got to talk'?"

"Well, I need for you to tell me what we're doing here. Is this just sex or is this the start of something?"

"Hell, I just needed a physical release." He said as sincerely as he could muster. Then he cracked a smile. "You moron, of course I want more. You're funny, mean, gorgeous and you have a soft spot in your heart for baby geniuses. What else could a guy ask for?"

"Have a bagel. I still haven't decided how I feel about sleeping with a guy who isn't circumcised. And that's another thing. How do I explain going out with a goy to my very Jewish parents?"

"Well, I like bagels and I am a doctor, does that help?"

"House if we do this then you have to behave at work as best as you can behave. The board and the other doctors are going to be watching to see if I treat you more favorably than them so I'm actually going to have to be harder on you than before. Do you understand?"

"Not really, but I'll work at trying to get my head around it. In the meantime, I have to get cleaned up and go, I have a children's party to give."

"Yes, I know, I'll be over in an hour to help get ready."

The party was a hit. The adults were chuffed to see the birthday card and presents from Stephen Hawkings and they really enjoyed the beer and margaritas. Newt was oblivious to all the fuss. He was too busy playing with his new tinker toys that Stephen had sent over. By the end of the party, Newt was swimming in presents, cake and ice cream. He was very tired by the end of the day and went to sleep earlier than usual.

Cuddy and Blythe had a great time with Newt and the other kids. Cameron helped out too. By the end of the day, Cuddy, Blythe and Cameron were almost passed out in the back yard with the pitcher of margaritas between them. Newt was curled up in bed with one of his Mom's sweaters.

House came over to Cuddy and gave her a kiss on the neck. Cuddy sat up straight. This was his first public display of affection and it was done in front of Cameron. Lisa knew that Allison Cameron had a crush on House. Cuddy was often amazed at how many women in the hospital had a crush of House. It was the bad boy syndrome.

Lisa looked at Cameron who had fleetingly registered some disappointment and resignation. Cameron gave Cuddy a weak smile as to say, "It's ok."

House then sat down with the women. "Well, was that a successful two year old birthday party?"

"Oh that was a very successful two year old birthday party...and guess what? You never have to give one of those again." Lisa chuckled.

"I don't?" House sounded hopeful.

"No, now you get to plan the successful three year old party!"

His face fell, "ugh..."

Greg's mom went home a few days later very happy that Greg had Lisa in his life. She was a good steadying influence. She had a hard time saying goodbye to Newt, who had called him Grammy and given her hugs and kisses on demand. He was a very sweet little boy and surprisingly, her son was a good father. She had to admit, she never saw Greg as a father. She always thought he would be childless.

Not long afterwards, Cuddy woke up in the middle of the night. She had spent the night at Greg's place. Greg wasn't in bed and she knew what this meant. He had probably had the dream. She got up, put on a tshirt she got out of his drawer and went out to the media room.

He was sitting, watching the Colbert Report. "The dream?"

"Yep, I've had it for the last few days. My therapist said to expect a relapse around now." He said.

"Around now?"

"It was a year ago today that the plane blew up. Anniversaries are rough."

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked.

"No, not really." He grabbed Lisa and pulled her close so they could lay down on the couch together. He kissed the back of her neck and ear and then continued to watch the Colbert report.

"Greg, do you still miss her?"

"I'm not going to lie. Yes, I still miss her but that doesn't mean I care any less about you, you do know that?" He said emphatically.

"Of course I know that. And it doesn't bother me that you miss her. In fact, it would probably bother me if you didn't miss her. One year isn't a lot and I would hope that if I died you'd miss me longer than that." She sqeezed the arm that was draped over her arms.

"I would, but I'd prefer that we not even go there. I don't like the thought of another woman leaving me."

The dreams subsided after a month and House was able to sleep again. Cuddy was spending most of her time with House and Newt at their house. "Why don't you sell your house and move in with us?"

"Oh, no. I'm not giving up my beautiful home unless this is permanent and we haven't gotten there yet. I'm happy the way it is working out now. We'll see in a few months."

Things were going so well that House, being the pessimist, was waiting for the other shoe to drop. He didn't have long to wait.

Six months passed and Newt was a little over 2 ½ years old. He was talking in short but full sentences and, although his fine motor skills made it difficult sometimes to understand his handwriting, he was performing simple arithmetic on paper. House was in constant awe of his son's rapid progress . House had the feeling that by the time Newt was in First Grade, Newt's homework would be over his head. Each day Newt came home with some colorful papers filled with numbers and arithmetic written in different colored pencils. Instead of fingerpaintings, the refrigerator was filled with math papers dangling from magnets. But Newt seemed very happy in his daycare. Cuddy just laughed whenever she saw the refrigerator. It was so cool.

House sent Stephen Hawkings some of Newt's math papers and he was delighted. He called and asked permission to talk to the director of the child development department about Newt. House called Altain and told him to expect a call from Stephen and his caretaker, Geoff. Altain was beside himself and very nervous. The call went well, Altain explained the progress Newt had made and what lesson plans they had in store for him. He told Stephen that they were going to start him soon on division and multiplication although it was hard because Newt's fine motor skills hadn't caught up with his math abilities. Stephen asked to be kept up to date because he had a special interest in his Godson. Altain now had bragging rights to the fact that Stephen Hawkings had approved of his program.

The first Thursday in December, House was called by the daycare. "Dr. House?"

"Yes, Greg House."

"This is Meggie over at Stephen's daycare, could you please come and pick him up? Some of the children have been getting some kind of virus and we're going to shut the clinic for today and clean everything thoroughly."

"What kind of virus?"

"Oh, nothing too bad, just a flu. But we don't want to take any chances, you can understand."

"Yes, I can understand." House said with an air of mockery. "I'll be over in a few minutes." House didn't like the sound of this. How many daycare facilities actually shut down voluntarily because of a flu? How many did she mean when she said "some" of the children?

House grabbed his medical kit, jacket, keys and cane and told Cameron and Chase, "I have to go over to get Newt, I want you guys to have a specimen kit ready. I may be calling you to come over to the daycare to run some tests for viruses, bacteria and fungi. They're experiencing a rash of sick kids."

"Is Newt ok?" Cameron was concerned.

"He was when I took him in this morning. In fact, he insisted on wearing his Batman pajamas to school. I couldn't get him out of them, he seemed quite pleased with himself. He's really into fantasy. Ok, I'm off, I'll be back soon."

Chase raised his eyebrows and told Cameron, "From what I overheard Cuddy saying, House is really into fantasy too."

"Too much information." Cameron sneered.

House arrived at the daycare and saw a dozen kids waiting for their parents to pick them up. Two of the kids looked lethargic and the others were energetic and healthy. House went up to the two children that looked ill. He put his hand on their forehead and could feel their fever. He could tell that it was pretty high, probably over 103 F. He looked for Meggie, "Get Dr. Altain, I'd like to talk to him."

"Dr. Altain was going to a meeting and then he was going to go home. He said he wasn't feeling well."

"I need a list of all the kids in the day care, their contact information and I also need for you to highlight which ones have already gotten sick." He told Meggie.

"I can't give you that information without Dr. Altain's permission."

"Look, in about 24 hours several more of these children will get sick. Their fevers alone could be life threatening without medical attention. We need to make sure their parents know that if they get a fever, they should get them into the emergency room before it spikes and they have a seizure or die. But if you don't give me the list, then I can't contact the parents, can I? So when some of these children die and the CDC comes here and asks you why you didn't give me the list, I hope you have a good excuse because not only will the CDC shut this place down, but the parents are going to sue. You, Dr. Altain, and the rest will be out of a job."

"I'm sorry Dr. House, but I still need to call Dr. Altain really quick." She ran into the office and House could see her on the phone.

A mother entered the day care and looked around for help. One of the day care teachers approached her, "I'm here to pick up David."

"Excuse me, I'm Dr. Gregory House, an infectious disease specialist at Princeton-Plainsboro. Which one is your son?" She pointed to a rather spry four year old. "Your son has been exposed to a virus that could be dangerous. I want you to give me your telephone number and address so that we can contact you if we find that this virus is more than just the flu. In the meantime, if your child starts to run a fever, even a low one, I want you to bring him into Princeton-Plainsboro and ask for me, Greg House. Ok?"

"Yes, but he has a doctor."

"Well, if you want, you can take him to your own doctor, but let him know that Greg House at Princeton Plainsboro is monitoring the disease and has information for him. Ok?"

Meggie returned with an Excel spread sheet. "Dr. Altain said I could give you the list. Here is our list of students, parents' names, addresses and phone numbers. I highlighted the five children that are home ill."

"What about those two?" He pointed to the two obviously sick children.

"No, they aren't highlighted, that's Devon MacArthur and Karthika Balasumbrumanian."

"Which one on the list called in sick first?"

"May Chin."

House put marks next to their names. He called Cameron. "You and Chase get over here quick and I want you to bring level two protection. I think this is more than just the flu. These kids are running high fevers and look pretty lethargic." When Cameron acknowledged the instructions, House turned to the two sick children.

"Devon, tell me where it hurts?"

"My throat, my ears, my head, my eyes." The little boy was obviously in pain and he had a cough.

"Open your mouth for me." Devon opened his mouth and House looked inside with his scope.

"What are you doing to my son?" An angry voice came up from behind.

House turn to find a 30 something woman extremely agitated. "I'm an infectious disease specialist from Princeton-Plainsboro and I have been checking your son to see what his symptoms are. Are you Ms. MacArthur?"

"Yes."

"Dr. Gregory House. Stephen's father." House pointed at Newt. "Ms. MacArthur you need to get Devon over to Princeton-Plainsboro hospital and have him admitted. Tell them Dr. House wants him admitted, they have my cell number if they need to contact me."

Her face changed from anger to concern, "Doctor, what do you think it is?"

"I don't know yet, either viral or bacterial. However, as fast as it is spreading, I suspect it is viral." House went over to Karthika.

"Karthika, can you tell me what hurts?" Karthika was very young but she held her hand up to her throat and her head."

"Your head and your throat hurt?" He asked. Karthika shook her head yes. Her cough was worse than Devon.

House saw the staff with their rags and disinfectant starting to wipe down surfaces. "STOP...STOP...are you idiots?" The staff looked at him as if he was rabid. "I'm bringing in people to obtain samples and if you do that, we might not be able to find where this is coming from." They all dropped what they were doing and went over to check on the children.

"Meggie, tell the parents to call me at Princeton-Plainsboro when they come to pick up their kids. I'm taking Stephen and going back to work. My team, Drs. Cameron and Chase will be here soon, they'll need access to everything so it can be tested."

House got on the phone. "Chase, if you or Cameron run into any parents picking up their kids while you are there, tell them that if their kid starts running a fever, any fever, to get them over to the hospital and ask for me."

"Isn't this a little premature? We don't even know if it is garden variety flu?"

"Fever is too high, congestion is pronounced and the virus is fairly pathogenic. I think we need to take precautions. The first patient to report in with an illness was a girl named May Chin."

"That doesn't sound good."

"I know, I have to call because, 'I wonder where the Chinns have been."

House grabbed Newt and felt his forehead. He couldn't really tell without a thermometer if he was running a fever. He did notice that Newt was engrossed in a jigsaw puzzle...a child's wooden jigsaw puzzle that was very large. The pieces were big enough that they did not require fine motor skills. Newt was not happy with his father for taking him away from the puzzle. House carried a crying kid to the car and strapped him in for the ride back to his office.

"Beer Gut...hey buddy." House was looking in the rear view mirror at his sobbing son. "When we get to the hospital you can see Cuddy and JJ. You can play with your blocks." But Newt wasn't having any of it. He was mad and cranky.

When they got to the hospital, House got a sniffling Newt from the back seat. He had a fever. House was surprised at how fast the fever had risen in such a short time. House was worried. He went straight into Cuddy's office.

"You need to admit Newt immediately. He has a virus and his fever is rising faster than I've seen in the past. His daycare is closed, they already have seven sick, with Newt that makes eight. I had one of the mothers bring their son here to be admitted."

Lisa jumped up from her desk and went to grab Newt. Newt held out his arms to her, "Newt , sweetie, let's see. Wow, he is burning up. Oh honey, let's get you into bed." She started to take Newt towards admitting, "I see you have your batman pjs on." She gave House a look, "Why is he still in his pjs?"

"You try getting him out of them. They didn't bat an eye at the daycare, apparently kids do this all the time."

"You know, this isn't a good idea. I know you can't treat him, but I'm too close to him too. I'm too emotionally involved. Let's get Chase to admit him." She looked House in the eye.

He gave her one of those, 'do I have to' grimaces. "Ok, I guess. He just won't let me hear the last of it. Well, you trusted me enough to treat Newt. Blah, blah..." They had arrived at admitting. They admitted Newt and he was put in a semi-private room with Devon.

House did a full exam of Devon and had blood samples taken of both boys. He specifically ran an H5N1 antigen test and a platelet count. He took a swab of Devon's nose and had Devon cough so that he could get his sputum tested and kept it at 39F for transport to the lab. Devon had developed diarrhea so House started a saline IV. They were sent to the lab for a reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. He also ordered am aminotransferase test to see if they were elevated. After speaking to Chase, the same test was performed on Newt. Chase told House that he was on his way back to the hospital and he agreed with House's treatment. They started Newt and Devon on Tamiflu. They also ordered acetaminophen followed in four hours by ibuprofen. Newt had started to get a cough. Devon's lungs were very congested and he was uncomfortable breathing. House also suspected that there was some alveolar damage so he ordered a thrombin time test.

Cuddy was in the room with House helping with the tests and trying to make Newt more comfortable. She received a call from emergency. She got off the phone and he could see she was extremely worried. "Did you say the first to call in was May Chin?" Well, she's downstairs in respiratory failure. Her mother has been admitted too."

House took off for emergency but not without telling Cuddy, "Call Maggie McGee at the CDC, tell her what we have so far and tell her to get her butt up here ASAP."

"You think it's wise to bring in the CDC so soon?"

"Yes and I trust Maggie, she's a straight shooter. Call her."

Whe House got down to emergency he saw two beds, one with an adult female Asian and one with an Asian child. Standing by them was a very worried 40ish Asian male.

"Mr. Chin?" House asked as the man shook his head yes. "I'm Dr. House, we are studying the illness that has spread through May's daycare. I need to know a few things. Where have you, your wife and May been in the last 14 days?"

"My wife is a sociologist doing her doctorate at Princeton, she and my daughter just got back a week ago from doing studies in Xincheng Village. It's in the Jiuyuan District in Baotou City."

"Crap..." House ran with great pain in his leg to a computer and accessed the internet. The CDC had reported an H5N1 outbreak in Xincheng. The poultry had all been inoculated but they were still getting reports of duck, swans and now even sparrows being infected and dying. By now Cuddy was looking over his shoulder.

"Oh, good God, no. Please don't tell me that the Chins were in China?"

House called Chase who was now sitting upstairs. "Did you guys find anything in the daycare that might harbor Avian flu?"

He could hear Chase asking Cameron in the background. Cameron said no. "Not that was obvious."

"Go back and ask Meggie if May Chin brought anything to the daycare when she got back from China...if she did, bag it." House told him.

House went back to the Emergency where May and her mother had being prepared to be taken to ICU. Their vitals were failing. Apparently, they both had Acute Respiratory Distress and both were suffering diarrhea. The doctors had them on respirators but the lungs were filling fast.

"Mr. Chin, your wife and daughter were in an area that has had a recent outbreak of Avian Flu. Could you tell me if you know whether they were near poultry? At a market where poultry was being sold?" House paused to see what the answer was.

"I'm not sure, my wife was ill when she finally got home and she went to bed. My daughter got sick two days later. We really didn't have an opportunity to talk about her trip. I do know that the area that she went to is rural. Doctor, do they have bird flu?"

"It's possible, but it could be several other things. We're running a lot of tests. We just need some questions answered." House looked up and saw Cuddy motioning for him to come out.

"A new patient just arrived in the ER, a Karthika Balasubrumanian. She is showing the same signs and apparently from the same daycare."

"Yes, Chase told them to come straight over from daycare. I need someone to call each of the parents on this list and ask them to bring their children in for an exam. If we're going to make sure these kids make it, we have to catch this early." He looked at Cuddy. "You need to call the CDC, this could get really ugly."

House left and went back to see Newt, who was still asleep. His fever was holding steady at 102 F, probably due to the acetaminophen. Devon was not doing quite as good, but he was stable. His parents were holding vigil at his bedside. Cameron came in and checked both of the boys.

"We'll take good care of him." She said to House.

House nodded while stroking Newt's hair back. "I need for you to start calling in the kids from the daycare, we need to get this isolated."

Chase came into the room, "I'm just back. Meggie said that May brought in some duck feathers to share with the class. They had been given to her by some of the Chinese children as a sign of friendship. Of course they passed the feathers around the entire class so everyone could see them." Chase held up a baggy of beautiful green duck feathers.

"Get them tested for H5N1. Give each of the kids Tamiflu as soon as they come in..."

House's cell phone rang.

"We just lost Mrs. Chin. Respiratory distress. How's Newt?"

"Stable. He and the other kid are sleeping and their fevers are 102 and 103 F so they are holding their own." House hung up and turned to Cameron.

"We need for someone to find out all the contacts that the kids have had since coming into contact with the feathers. Get Cuddy to get your some help, the CDC will be arriving in the next few hours and they'll need that information. You guys better get a shot of Tamiflu as sson as possible."

"Bird flu in New Jersey?" Cameron shook her head in disbelief.

"Had to end up somewhere in the USA."

A few hours later, Newt and Devon were awake. They were very uncomfortable and both were having trouble laying down because of the coughing. Their beds were adjusted up so that they could breath easier. The time test came back showing that Devon was experiencing Alveolar damage so House ordered intravenous Albuterol. Newt still was very congested but was not yet in Acute Respiratory Distress.

Twelve of the daycare children had presented with symptoms. Two showed up on their own because of the rapidity and severity of their symptoms. The others showed up because the hospital had called and told the parents to get in for a check up.

The CDC showed up an hour later. The initial tests were back and the CDC was treating this as the first Avian Influenza outbreak on American soil. More importantly, because they did not know exactly how fifteen children managed to get Avian flu, they were treating it as if it was now transmittable from human to human.

Dr. Molly McGee had five of the children transferred into the isolation ward. She then cordoned off a separate section of the third floor for the remainder of the children. It was being treated as a makeshift isolation ward. Molly and Greg had known each other for years. House trusted and treated Molly like a true peer and respected her work. Molly was a real pistol, very dynamic and funny as hell. She wasn't funny today.

"Greg, Dr. Cuddy, Chase, Cameron, good work. If you hadn't pinned this down so quickly, I'm sure this situation would be much worse. Now can you bring me up to date on your findings?"

"Chase brought back a bag of duck feathers that had been given to May Chin as a parting gift by the children in Xincheng Village. It's in the Jiuyuan District of China. The feathers were passed around to all the children at the daycare so that they could touch them. Then they were left out on a desk for the kids to play with. We sent samples to our lab and here are the rest for you." House held out another specimen bag of feathers carefully marked by Chase. "Our labs show initially that the duck feathers have some remnants of duck feces on the tips of the feather. The lab has confirmed Influenza of an H5 variety. We don't have the labs back on whether it is H5N1, but we assume it is the Qinghai strain. Although I understand from the WHO that H9N2 has been found in the same area and that they have possibly recombined?"

"Yes, we have seem some recombining of strains to form new strains in that area. Unfortunately, we have seen it in swine as well as water-foul and poultry. The recombining does worry us because H9N2 has some similarities to the strains found in swine in Tennessee in the 1970's. If that's true, then H5N1 is recombining with old familiar flu strains and becoming much more transmissible between humans. What was that mother thinking? Allowing her child to even come in contact with anything that flies?" Molly was shaking her head, "We put out these travel advisories and they just get ignored."

"I'm sorry, but I haven't kept up on the literature, what's the mortality rate for this flu?" Cuddy was worried about Newt.

"As you know the H flu of 1918 killed over 40 million people, more than World War I. The 1918 virus had a fatality rate of around 2.5–5. According to WHO, the current H5N1 virus is killing on average 58 of those infected. For children, its higher. Even though most experts believe that this figure will drop significantly if the virus turns into a pandemic strain, no one has been able to come up with scientific evidence to support that as a certainty. Even if true, the fatality rate has a long way to drop from 58 to 2.5.

Both Cameron and Cuddy had chills run down their back. House seemed unfazed. He obviously already knew the statistics. Cuddy's heart started to race. The odds weren't even a 50/50 chance that Newt would survive. Cuddy went so pale that Molly paused to look at her.

"Dr. Cuddy, are you alright?"

Cuddy said nothing but sat down. Cameron spoke up, "I don't know if House told you but his son is one of those that is ill. Dr. Cuddy is very close to his son."

""Oh, my God. Greg, why didn't you tell me? I didn't see a "House" on the list?"

"He has his mother's last name, Morgan. She died a little over a year ago."

"I remember now reading about it and seeing you on the news. Well, what's his status?"

"As soon as he started showing an elevated fever, I gave him Tamiflu and other prophylactic drugs."

"Well, he's lucky to have you as a father, especially for acting so quickly without waiting for confirmation. As you know, Tamiflu hasn't been able to knock out the flu and in some cases the strains have mutated to the point that Tamiflu doesn't work. However, so far it has been working on the Quinghai strain and the rate of death in people who receive Tamiflu is lower. You did the right thing. I'd like to see him just to see what the spawn of the devil looks like." She smiled warmly at House. "I'll see what I can do." She patted House's arm and left.

After the others had left, Cuddy turned to House and said with certainty, "You've slept with her!"

"It was a long time ago."

"Well, she's certainly fond of you. When did you sleep with her?"

"About ten years ago."

"When you were with Stacy?"

House shook his head yes. "We were having a rough patch and I met Molly when she was a speaker at a conference in Washington D.C. The rest is history. Are you jealous?"

"No, but don't think you're going to any conferences any time soon. I'm going to go see Newt. I didn't realize the mortality rate was so high for this flu. That means we're going to probably lose half of these kids. I just can't think about losing Newt. I just can't deal with it."

Inside House was scared to death. He knew what they were up against and they had very few tricks left in their bags. House knew that Molly had one very special trick left and he was hoping by her comment that she meant to use it on Newt. They had discovered that blood transfusions from patients that had survived had helped the survival rate. Molly had most likely brought several bags of frozen blood kept on hand at the CDC.

When House got up to Newt's room, he checked his chart. He swallowed hard with gratitude when he saw that Dr. McGee had asked for them to type Newt's blood. She was seeing if Newt's blood type matched some of the frozen blood. He wanted to hug her. Funny thing, whenever he saw Molly, he wanted to hug her. It was like they had been a couple in another life. However, he knew Molly had just gotten married and was apparently very happy with her husband. Another time, another place and they might have been together.

"Greg, I have some blood. It's been screened for HIV but the results for the Hepatitis screen aren't back. We just got these in at the CDC yesterday from Indonesia. You have to make the call now. If we don't do it soon, it will be too late. The virus has slowed down from the Tamiflu but you and I both know that the statistics for kids, even with Tamiflu aren't that great. Do you want to take the chance and give the blood?"

"Absolutely." House wanted Newt to have every chance in the world. He started to choke up, "Molly," he paused, "thanks."

Molly could see tears in the eyes of the great cynic, Gregory House. She reached around and gave him a hug which he affectionately returned.

"Is Newt ok?" Cuddy saw the comforting being given to House and thought that Newt had taken a turn for the worse.

"No, Molly is going to let Newt be part of a CDC protocol using blood from H5N1 survivors. "

Molly handed House the forms to fill out. After she left, House told Cuddy, "She shouldn't be doing this. Newt probably doesn't meet the protocol parameters, but they won't fire Molly, she's too good."

"Well, I guess sleeping with the CDC has its advantages."

They immediately started the blood on Newt and then the best they could all do was wait. They were kept busy by all the patients and the media surrounding the flu. Of course there was worldwide panic and fear that the flu was in the USA.

"We are fairly sure that the flu was not originally transmitted from human to human contact but by contact with infected duck feathers. It may be possible that after several of the children were infected, they may have infected others by being in close contact. We are **not** convinced that the strain has mutated to a point where it is easily transmitted from human to human. However, we do recommend that all Americans visit our website, www.pandemicflu.gov put out by the Department of Health and Human Services in conjunction with the CDC. We also have several sections of our website, www.cdc.gov devoted to avian flu and pandemic flu. The US Government has been recommending that all families stockpile certain necessities and take precautions in case of a pandemic. It is estimated that if the Avian flu reaches a level 6 on the WHO scale, then we will see significant problems with our infrastructure. It is estimated that 25 of the population will be infected, 25 of the population will stay home to take care of the ill and 25 of the population will stay home because they are concerned about catching something. That means that there will be very few able body persons to run our infrastructures, utilities and other enterprises, such as grocery stores. That's why we urge all of you to be prepared." Molly was addressing a large group of worldwide media. Up at the table were Molly, Lisa Cuddy, Greg House and Elizabeth De Pozo, from Health and Human Services. "We'll take questions."

"Dr. House, is it true that your son is one of the ill children?'

House looked to Molly to see if it was ok to answer. She nodded. "Yes, my son, Stephen is ill. He was one of the first to be admitted to the hospital."

"How is he doing Dr. House?"

"He's stable for now."

The questions turned to Molly, "How are the children doing?

"Well, unfortunately, we have two fatalities so far. Mrs. Chin and their daughter May. We also have three more that are in Acute Respiratory Distress and that has us gravely concerned."

The press conference lasted another half hour. When it was through, Lisa and House both practically ran to Newt's room. They put on paper gowns and N95 masks. Newt was sleeping. House put his gloved hand on his son's little face. He wanted so much to reach down and kiss him. Newt woke up and looked at his Dad. He reached his arms up and House picked him up. Newt tried to grab the mask off of his father's mouth. "No Beer Gut, don't do that." He pulled Newt's hand away.

Molly walked in and smiled at Lisa and House, "Beer Gut? This kid has more names. Where did he get Beer Gut and where did he get Newt."

Lisa frowned, "Stephen Isaac Morgan is named after Stephen Hawkings and Isaac Newton, so Newt for Newton. At one point Newt was starting to get a little paunch from being fed so much at my house, so House said he looked like he had a beer gut. Well, no one else calls him that but his father."

"Oh, I see. How is he doing?"

"He's alert, the fever is down to 101 and his lungs haven't gotten worse."

"That's a very good sign, Greg. Very good. I'm happy for you, when I saw Newt just this morning I thought he was in real trouble. He looks much better. " While she was talking, Newt was staring at Molly with his usual intensity. "Does he always stare?"

Lisa and House answered in unison, "Yes."

Devon was seven and he turned the corner the following day. Molly said it was House's administering of Tamiflu that saved him. The parents tried to hug House who took several steps back and said, "It's part of the job."

Three of the children died making the mortality rate 33 of those infected. The CDC and WHO considered that an excellent outcome and asked Dr. Gregory House to write up the steps he took when the children were admitted. Apparently, he had done something right because if they discounted Mrs. Chin and May Chin from the statistics (because they had been ill for several days before being admitted) then the mortality rate plummeted to 28 or 3 out of 13. It boiled down to the fact that House had diagnosed the problem quickly. Sadly, Greg House had a uncanny ability to observe that this was not a typical flu and had acted accordingly. It was doubtful that many practitioners would have that sixth sense.

NEWT BABBLES

I used to have a mommy that smelled good. She would hold me and feed me from her breast and I would look up at her and really look at everything about her. I knew all her freckles and the color of her eyes. They said she had grey eyes but most people didn't notice that she had a circle of green around the black hole in the middle. She made me laugh and when I was hurt she made me safe. I always knew she loved me even when I got mad and hit her for taking away a toy or making me take a nap. I don't really understand what happened and why my mommy never comes to see me. I was on this plane and when we got off she didn't come with us. It scared me because I was with this woman, she was nice but I really didn't know her. She was holding me and as we walked down the aisle of the plane I saw my mommy crying. She was so very sad. She waved goodbye to me and I waved back. I didn't want to go and leave my mommy so sad, but I did. I remember her eyes and I remember her being sad but I have to look at photographs to remind me of what she really looked like. Then Daddy was really sad. He was sad for a long time. He let this woman stay with us and I didn't like her. She would ignore me and once she slapped my hand hard when I was reaching for a toy. I was glad when Cuddy replaced her. Cuddy is very nice and she loves me. I got to meet my Grammy and Pop Pop. They are lots of fun and they really like to play a lot. I think my cheek is worn down from Grammy's kisses. My Godfather is cool, he lets me sit in his wheelchair and ride with him. It is a lot of fun. He sounds funny because the computer talks for him, but a lot of people like to be around him, so he must not sound too funny. My teacher says I am good at math but then he says I should be good at math, I have two smart parents. I like math, it is so easy. I am now four and I am doing geometry with coordinates. They say that this is really, really good. My Dad says that he wants me to go out and play a lot. He doesn't let me do math for more than an hour after school because he wants me to make friends. I have made friends at my daycare, they are smart too. I got sick about a year ago. I hurt all over and my Dad was very worried. Cuddy was crying and everyone was sticking me and Devon with needles. It hurt but I was too tired to cry about it. I got well and Cuddy told my Dad that he better do something because she loved me so much that she didn't want to ever lose me. She said she wanted to adopt me and that meant he had to ask her to marry him. My Dad looked a little scared but not too long after that I had to take this ring on a pillow up to the tent and then my Dad broke this glass and everyone yelled "Malt Balls" at us. Now Cuddy lives with us all the time. I don't call her Cuddy anymore. I call her mommy. I hope my mommy doesn't mind. I miss her and wish she could come home to live with Dad, Cuddy and me. But I told my Dad that the other day and he got all sad and said that my mommy loved me very much and didn't want to die but she did and it means that I won't see her again. My Grammy says that's "poppycock" and that we'll all see her when we go to heaven.


End file.
